Comparison of Power Consumption between Tree and Ring Passive Optical Network-5G/6G Fronthaul

This paper presents an investigation on the power consumption of fronthaul Passive Optical Networks (PONs) in the context of 5G/6G networks. The significance of this research is by addressing key aspects that influence energy efficiency in 5G/6G fronthaul, which is based on the optical transport network specifically PONs. Firstly, the parameters that significantly impact the power consumption of fronthaul PONs is identified and analyzed. Secondly, a comparative power consumption analysis between two prevalent PON topologies; namely Tree and Ring were compared. The power consumption was also compared when considering different functional split (i.e Option 6 and Option 7.2). This comparison highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each topology in terms of power consumption. Additionally, appropriate formulas for calculating the power consumption specific to PON-based 5G/6G fronthaul configurations were derived and provided. The findings offer valuable insights into power consumption performance in 5G/6G fronthaul networks, proposing that ring topology exhibits lower power consumption than tree topology and Option 6 provides up to 44% power consumption reduction for both topologies. This research contributes to the development of more sustainable and energy-efficient 5G/6G network infrastructures.