Nokia & Orange develop 'extreme deep sleep' energy-saving tech

Nokia has announced a new energy-saving development in partnership with Orange, designed to significantly reduce the energy consumption of mobile networks without impacting customer experience. Conceptually baptised as "extreme deep sleep", the power-saving technology builds on Nokia's latest generation AirScale radio architecture and Reefshark System-on-Chip chipsets, offering a more efficient energy-saving solution than the current deep sleep mode technologies.

The highlight of the planned deployment, set to be unveiled by Orange in the latter half of 2024, is its ability to minimise energy usage to unprecedented margins. Extreme deep sleep mode operates by identifying periods of low network traffic; at this point, it deactivates essential parts of chosen radio units' hardware, effectively minimising energy wastage. Nokia estimates the innovative solution can reduce energy consumption by a staggering factor of eight.

A key feature of this groundbreaking energy-saving solution is its application of Nokia's MantaRay energy automation program, which leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to optimise the energy efficiency of Radio Access Networks (RAN). Interestingly, the Extreme deep sleep mode surpasses its predecessor by powering down additional hardware subsystems, thus further reducing energy consumption. It represents a critical addition to Nokia's Habrok radio units and the broader new generation of Nokia's AirScale RAN suite of products.

Arnaud Vamparys, CTIO, Orange Europe, spoke positively about the initiative, stating, "We have long advocated the need for ecosystem cooperation if we are to reduce our industry's environmental footprint and make our networks as energy efficient as possible. This project is in line with our ambition to reduce our CO2 emissions by 45% in 2030 compared with 2020 for all scopes 1, 2 and 3, as set out in our 'Lead the future' strategic plan."

The collaborative product of Nokia and Orange is the latest in a series of joint ventures aimed at fulfilling shared sustainability goals. Energy costs account for a progressively more significant part of the expenditure faced by network operators, with the RAN contributing to approximately 80% of all mobile network energy consumption.

Nokia's relentless pursuit of innovation in the realm of telecommunications is underscored by its steadfast commitment to environmental sustainability. Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, recently lauded a significant milestone achieved in partnership with Orange. Uitto expressed, "Innovation is at the heart of everything we do at Nokia, and we are committed to continuously maximising the energy efficiency of our technology and AirScale radio access portfolio. This latest achievement with our partner, Orange, is further proof of our efforts to help our customers meet their targets and achieve their sustainability ambitions."

Introducing the extreme deep sleep mode strengthens Nokia's ongoing commitment to developing more energy-efficient networks, which is increasingly important in achieving industry-wide climate change targets.