CBL - Campus del Baix Llobregat

Projecte matriculat

Títol: Optimizing Physical Layer Energy Efficiency through the Gearbox PHY

Director/a: RUIZ BOQUÉ, SÍLVIA

Departament: TSC

Títol: Optimizing Physical Layer Energy Efficiency through the Gearbox PHY

Data inici oferta: 01-04-2026     Data finalització oferta: 01-12-2026


Estudis d'assignació del projecte:
    MU EM CODAS 2
Tipus: Individual
 
Lloc de realització: EETAC
 
Paraules clau:
5G NR, Gearbox PHY, Energy consumption,
 
Descripció del contingut i pla d'activitats:
Significant effort has been devoted to reducing energy consumption of modern 5G NR through sleep and idle modes. These mechanisms are effective only when little or no data is transmitted.

One approach that has been proposed to address this problem is the Gearbox PHY concept. The basic idea is to define a small number of predefined operating modes, referred to as gears. Each gear represents a deliberate trade-off between achievable performance and energy consumption. Higher gears prioritize throughput and link performance, while lower gears intentionally restrict transmission capability to reduce energy use. Unlike conventional link adaptation, which continuously optimizes quality of service, a Gearbox PHY treats energy efficiency as the primary objective and accepts bounded reductions in performance when this is feasible.

This thesis focuses on the practical realization of an energy-oriented Gearbox PHY for active 5G NR operation. The objective is to identify which standardized control parameters define the admissible configuration space of a link, and which runtime decisions determine the actual physical layer behaviour within this space. The work studies how these decisions affect throughput, required signal quality, and power amplifier operation. Gear behaviour is evaluated through modelling and simulation, followed by a limited SDR-based feasibility study. The overall aim is to assess how energy-oriented operating modes can be defined and used within existing NR procedures and realistic system constraints, without redesigning 5G NR link adaptation or introducing new physical layer mechanisms, and while remaining fully standard-compliant.

To this end, the thesis aims to address the following research questions:

1.Which 5G NR physical layer parameters are relevant for energy-efficient operation during active downlink transmission?
2.Which subset of these parameters can realistically be treated as adjustable runtime control variables under standard and implementation constraints?
3.How can a simplified but standard-compliant model be developed to relate the selected PHY parameters to achievable downlink rate and required PA output power during active operation?
4.How does the inclusion of multiple power amplifiers with different base and maximum power levels affect the relationship between PA output power and PA DC input power, and under which conditions do switching between PAs reduce total energy consumption?
5.How does the proposed joint PHY configuration and PA selection approach perform in single-user and multi-user scenarios when compared against QoS-driven operation and energy-aware PHY adaptation without PA switching?
6.If time allows, can a limited subset of the proposed PHY and PA configuration changes be demonstrated on an SDR-based 5G NR system to assess the feasibility of runtime operation without breaking link continuity?
 
Orientació a l'estudiant:
 
 
 
Horari d'atenció a estudiants per a l'assignació de projecte:
Contact by mail silvia.ruiz@upc.edu

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