Energy efficiency analysis in heterogeneous network deployments

Energy consumption of communication networks has recently received increased attention. Although wireless networks account for a rather relatively small share of energy use, lowering their energy consumption appears beneficial from an economical perspective. This paper provides analysis of an energy efficient heterogeneous network deployment. The network incorporates IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.16e-2005 network nodes and a two interface mobile node. The evaluation is done through extensive simulations conducted in QualNet simulator. The results analyze the validity of heterogeneous networks deployment in terms of used energy. Additionally, the paper investigates energy consumption trade-offs of a heterogeneous network in contrast to homogeneous network deployment.