Power saving technique for telephony access networks
View Patent ↗Technique is proposed for managing total power consumption in an access network comprising two or more interface modules serving a plurality of subscriber lines, the technique comprises performing a study of real power consumption of the subscriber lines in the access network on a line-to-line basis, correlating results of the study with inventory information concerning allocation of the subscriber lines to the interface modules and power consumption ensured by said modules to the lines and, based on the correlation, assessing optimality of allocation of the subscriber lines to the interface modules.
1. A method for managing total power consumption in an access network comprising two or more interface modules serving a plurality of subscriber lines, the method comprises
performing a study of real power consumption RPC of the subscriber lines in the access network on a line-to-line basis,
grouping the subscriber lines according to values of the real power consumption RPC of a line,
correlating results of the study with inventory information concerning allocation of the subscriber lines to the interface modules and power consumption ensured by said modules to said lines, and,
based on said correlation, assessing optimality of allocation of the subscriber lines to the interface modules.
2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
for each of the interface modules, forming an inventory database comprising data about value of ensured power consumption (EPC) per line of said plurality subscriber lines, served by said module;
for each line of the plurality, performing said study by obtaining information characterizing its real power consumption (RPC) of the line at Off-hook condition and at On-hook condition, and accumulating said obtained information;
correlating results of said study with the inventory information by correlating said accumulated information with the inventory information formed for all of said modules;
assessing optimality of allocation of at least one subscriber line of the plurality of subscriber lines to a different interface modules
recommending a new arrangement allowing, for at least two of said modules, more effective utilization of their power.
3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the new arrangement is proposed for a specific interface module, when a percentage of subscriber lines presently served by the specific module having an RPC value close to EPC is lower than a preselected threshold, while in the new arrangement the similar percentage for the specific module is higher than said threshold, and wherein the new arrangement comprises re-wiring of one or more of the subscriber lines to one or more different interface modules.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the subscriber lines are “Plain Old Telephony Service” lines and wherein the RPC of a specific subscriber line is represented by length or by resistance of that specific subscriber line.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of performing a study comprises obtaining said parameters characterizing RPC at the Off-hook condition and at the On-hook condition, the method further comprising selecting therefrom the higher parameter.
6. A system for managing total power consumption in an access network comprising two or more interface modules serving a plurality of subscriber lines, the system comprising:
measuring means for checking real power consumption of the subscriber lines in the access network on a line-to-line basis,
processing means for
grouping the subscriber lines according to values of the real power consumption RPC of a line,
correlating results of the checking with inventory information concerning allocation of the subscriber lines to the interface modules and power consumption ensured by said modules to said lines, and for
assessing, based on said correlation, optimality of allocation of the subscriber lines to the interface modules.
7. The system according to claim 6 further comprises:
a first data base for storing inventory information concerning each of said interface modules, value of ensured power consumption (EPC) per line (EPC) at the module and about specific lines, out of said plurality, served by said module;
said measuring means for obtaining information characterizing RPC of each of the plurality of subscriber lines of the access network at Off-hook condition and/or On-hook condition of the lines;
a second data base for accumulating the obtained information on RPC associated with respective subscriber lines and interface modules;
said processing means for correlating said accumulated information from said first database and said second database, determining an effectiveness of current arrangement at least at one of said modules by assessing suitability of the value of EPC per line in said module to the RPC at said specific lines currently served by said module;
recommending a new arrangement allowing, for at least one of said modules, more effective utilization of its ensured power consumption per line EPC; wherein the new arrangement being formed by selecting from said plurality of lines such a group of lines to be served by said module, that the RPC at any line of said group be maximally close to the EPC per line of said module.
8. The system according to claim 6 , wherein the processing means comprise a computer, while the system is further provided with a Management & Interface Unit (MIU) for communication between the measuring means and the processing means.
9. The system according to claim 7 , wherein the processing means comprise said first data base and said second data base, and are provided with a program for correlating and analyzing data from said first and second data bases for further assessing optimality of allocation of the subscriber lines to the interface modules and providing recommendations on a new power saving arrangement between the modules and the subscriber lines.
10. A method for optimizing the power consumption in access network comprising two or more interface modules serving a plurality of subscriber lines, the method comprising:
forming a first database based on an inventory information on each of the plurality of subscriber lines, wherein the information stored in the first database enables the retrieval of the Ensured Power Consumption (EPC) of each of the plurality of subscriber line;
forming a second database based on measurements of one or more parameters indicating the Real Power Consumption (RPC) of each of the plurality of subscriber lines;
upon analyzing data from both databases, selecting a group of subscriber lines to be served by a certain interface module, wherein each subscriber line in the group is predicted to have a RPC which does not exceed its corresponding EPC by more than a predetermined value.
11. A software product stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium and comprising data and computer implementable instructions for carrying out the method according to claim 10 .
12. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising allocating the group of subscriber lines to the certain interface module, wherein at least one member of the group of subscriber lines was previously allocated to a different interface module.
13. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the second database comprising information regarding on-hook state and off-hook state of each of the plurality of subscriber lines.
14. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the group of subscriber lines selected has similar values of the real power consumption RPC of a line.