Or up to 70 small new data centres, according to the Broadband Forum as it announces its standard to put this into practice and save 1.3TW an hour
Low-power energy-saving or deep standby modes on the home broadband devices could save enough energy across Europe to save up to up to 1.3 Terrawatts (TW) an hour. That is enough to power the annual residential needs of cities the size of Athens, Copenhagen or Lisbon or 70 small, new data centres, according to the Broadband Forum.
Broadband subscriptions in the European Union Broadband were forecast to reach 199,740,000 by 2026, up from 176,310,000 the year before, by ReportLinker.
Happily the Forum has standardised a mechanism for enabling standby or sleep mode on devices like home gateways, routers and set-top boxes by embedding extensions in its TR-181 Issue 2 Amendment 20 Data Model.
When this model is implemented over a network enabled by a User Services Platform (USP/TR-369), it introduces standardised mechanisms for controlling and monitoring power consumption of embedded network technologies, including Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB, xPON, and Thread.
Standard and remote
Put another way, the TR-181 device data model allows broadband providers to manage connected devices and ensures interoperability between devices and management software from different vendors. This power management capability can be installed as a containerised solution in hardware from different vendors remotely.
“The latest power saving efforts highlight how the Broadband Forum’s members continue to look for ways to improve economic and environmental sustainability for the industry,” said Craig Thomas, CEO of the Broadband Forum. “The TR-181 update represents a huge step forward for hitting sustainability targets in the years ahead.”
The TR-181 update includes features such as Ethernet Energy Detect Power Down (EDPD), LED brightness management, CPU frequency scaling, and the ability to dynamically control the number of active Wi-Fi Rx/Tx antenna chains.
“As connected homes grow increasingly sophisticated, energy efficiency is becoming a defining design consideration for broadband equipment,” said SoftAtHome Chief HGW Standardization Architect David Cluytens. “This work from the Broadband Forum reflects a collective global industry effort to align broadband technologies with sustainability objectives, such as those outlined in the French Energy Transition Law for Green Growth”.
Read the latest blog article on the TR-181 update here.
