SAMBAS: Sustainable and Adaptive Ultra-High-Capacity Micro Base Stations

SAMBAS - Sustainable & Adaptive Ultra-High-Capacity Micro Base Stations )

Project contract number: 2019-2.1.7-ERANET-2022-00050
Project duration: 42 months
The Hungarian/BME participation was supported by the NRDI Fund with HUF 60,113,988.

The primary objective of the “SAMBAS - Sustainable and Adaptive Ultra-High-Capacity Micro Base Stations” project, implemented at BME with funding from the NRDI Fund, is to reduce network energy consumption.
The secondary objective is to replace the already reduced network energy usage with locally harvested, renewable, and environmentally friendly energy sources. These include solar and wind energy, rain-harvested energy, as well as energy derived from vibrations (kinetic) or temperature differences (thermal).

Why is this important?
As we use newer generations of mobile networks, ever higher data rates are required, and higher frequency bands (millimeter waves, or mmWave) are increasingly employed—resulting in higher energy consumption.
It is also important to note that at higher frequencies, the coverage range decreases, and communication becomes more sensitive to interference and obstacles. For these reasons, the project seeks a balanced solution that reduces energy consumption while ensuring the desired service quality and availability for all users. These requirements are often conflicting, so the approach focuses on finding an optimized compromise.

What energy-saving measures have we implemented?
Here are a few examples, not intended to be exhaustive:

  • Shutting down idle gNBs (base stations): During late night and early morning hours, traffic is low, so unused base stations are powered down.
  • Traffic steering and handovers: We manage user handovers to maximize the number of idle gNBs that can be switched off.
  • Prioritizing locally harvested green energy: Renewable energy sources available on-site are preferred.
  • Minimizing on/off cycles for mobile users: Each on/off cycle consumes significant energy without carrying traffic, so these are kept to a minimum.
  • We make energy use proportional to network load.
  • Network slicing by traffic and quality classes: Less critical traffic can be sacrificed to ensure that essential services are maintained, even under energy-saving modes.
  • Multiple UE (user equipment) assignment to radio points (multiple antennas): This increases availability while only marginally increasing energy consumption.

Our solutions cut energy use and replace it with local renewable sources—without affecting user experience.

The consortium was led by the:

  • University of Antwerp (UAntwerp), Belgium

Other consortium partners:

  • Ghent University (UGent), Belgium
  • University of Poitiers (UPoitiers), France
  • Sodira-Connect (SDRC), France
  • Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), Hungary
  • University of Essex (UEssex), United Kingdom

BME’s participation was at the TMIT Department, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, under Dr. Tibor Cinkler.
Project website: https://www.chistera.eu/projects/sambas

BME publications in the SAMBAS project:

  • Fayad, A.; Cinkler, T.; Rak, J.: “Toward 6G Optical Fronthaul: A Survey on Enabling Technologies and Research Perspectives”, IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials (2025)
  • Fayad, A.; Cinkler, T.: “Energy-Efficient Joint User and Power Allocation in 5G Millimeter Wave Networks: A Genetic Algorithm-based Approach”, IEEE Access (2025)
  • Alghazali, Q.; Al-Amaireh, H.; Cinkler, T: Energy-Efficient Resource Allocation in Mobile Edge Computing Using NOMA and Massive MIMO, IEEE ACCESS  (2025)
  • Fayad, A.;  Cinkler, T.;  Istvan, P.; Sonkoly, B.:  “Harnessing Free Space Optics for Efficient 6G Fronthaul Networks: Challenges and Opportunities” Wiely Transactions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologies, 2024
  • Fayad, A.; Cinkler, T.: “Power Consumption Optimization in 5G/6G mmWave Networks with User Multi-Connectivity”, 2024 IEEE Pacific Rim Conference on Communications, Computers and Signal Processing (PACRIM’24)
  • Fayad, A: "Optimization of 5G and Beyond Networks for Cost-and Energy-Efficiency", PhD Dissertation, BME, September 4, 2024
  • Fayad, A.; Cinkler, T.: “Optimal Slicing of mmWave Micro Base Stations for 5G and Beyond”, Journal of Networking and Network Applications 2023
  • Fayad, A.; Cinkler, T.; Rak, J.: “5G Millimeter Wave Network Optimization: Dual Connectivity and Power Allocation Strategy”, IEEE Access 2023
  • Fayad, A.; Cinkler, T.; Rak, J.: “5G/6G Optical Fronthaul Modeling: Cost and Energy Consumption Assessment” Journal of Optical Communication and Networking (JOCN) 2023
  • Rajab, H.; Cinkler T.: “Enhanced Energy Efficiency and Scalability in Cellular Networks for Massive IoT”, 5G and Beyond (2023): 283
  • Rajab, H.; Ren, B.; Cinkler, T.: “A Novel Approach to Enhance the Energy Efficiency of a NOMA Network”, In Telecom, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 611-628. MDPI, 2023.
  • Fayad, A.; Cinkler, T.; Rak, J; Jha, M.: “Design of Cost-efficient Optical Fronthaul for 5G/6G Networks: An Optimization Perspective”, MDPI Sensors 2022
  • Fayad, A.; Cinkler, T.; Rak, J.; Sonkoly, B.: “Cost-Efficient Optical Fronthaul Architectures for 5G and Future 6G Networks”, 2022 IEEE Future Networks World Forum (FNWF), Montreal, QC, Canada, 2022, pp. 249-254
  • Fayad, A.; Cinkler, T.: “Cost-Effective Delay-Constrained Optical Fronthaul Design for 5G and Beyond”, 2022, Infocommunications Journal
  • Fayad, A.; Jha, M.; Cinkler, T.; Rak, J.: “Planning a cost-effective delay-constrained passive optical network for 5G fronthaul”, In IFIP/IEEE 2022 International Conference on Optical Network Design and Modeling (ONDM) (pp. 1-6)

“Under review” or “Submitted”:

  • Fayad, A; Cinkler, T; Famaey, J; Gódor, I: “Green 6G: Energy-Efficient User Association and Power Allocation with Locally Harvested Renewable Energy”, IEEE Transactions on Green Communications and Networking, Submitted on February 7, 2025, Q1 (Impact Factor: 5.3)
  • Parker, M.C; Koczian, G; Thakur, M; Walker, S.D; Bhat, N.N; Struye, J; Famaey, J; Ozkaya, O; Haxhibeqiri, J; Hoebeke, J; Cinkler, T; Fayad, A; Jalali, J: “Toward Sustainable Future Wireless Networks: Power Reduction and Energy Harvesting Strategies”, IEEE Access, Submitted, Q1 (Impact Factor: 3.6)