Unified E2E Energy Efficiency Testing Framework for Open RAN Published in IEEE

Energy efficiency represents a critical challenge for contemporary and future mobile networks, including within the Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) architecture. The lack of common procedures for comparing the energy efficiency of hardware and software solutions from various vendors has presented a significant obstacle to industry progress. Today, EE improvements of both SW and HW solutions are usually demonstrated in a specific scenario defined by individual vendors avoiding comparisons and benchmarking under various network conditions. This paper addresses this gap by proposing a novel O-RAN E2E energy efficiency testing framework.

The framework standardizes the evaluation of xApp/rApp pairs, such as those cooperating on cell on/off switching, using commercial RAN emulators and real-world network topology data from mobile network operators. The research demonstrates up to 57% improvement in energy efficiency compared to baseline configurations.

This work establishes a foundation for standardized energy efficiency testing in Open RAN, enabling fair benchmarking across vendors and solutions, and supporting the development of more sustainable mobile network architectures.

• Journal: IEEE Communications Standards Magazine
• Publication Date: 29 June 2026
• DOI: 10.1109/MCOMSTD.2026.3699015
• Publisher: IEEE

Authors

• Marcin Hoffmann – Rimedo Labs, Poznan, Poland; Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland
• Marcin Dryjański – Rimedo Labs, Poznan, Poland
• Adrian Kliks – Rimedo Labs, Poznan, Poland; Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland
• Andreas Gladisch – i14y Lab, Berlin, Germany
• Ajesh Pulyaar Keerthi – i14y Lab, Berlin, Germany
• Mohammadreza Razmi – i14y Lab, Berlin, Germany
• Heiko Lehmann – Deutsche Telekom T-Labs, Berlin, Germany

The full paper is available via IEEE Xplore at this DOI link.

This paper is part of an ongoing effort to establish an Energy Efficiency Testing Framework. To get all the news, follow us on LinkedIn or subscribe to our newsletter.

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