The Impact of Non-Neutrality on the Quality of Service and Energy Efficiency of a Separation Architecture

Abstract

A separation architecture is a heterogeneous network specifically designed to reduce the energy consumption of cellular networks. While Quality of Service (QoS) and energy efficiency of this architecture have been studied extensively, the impact of non-neutrality practices like paid prioritisation on these critical network metrics has not previously been investigated. In this paper, we address this gap by presenting a study that evaluated the QoS and energy efficiency of a non-neutral, energy-efficient scenario in a separation architecture. In the study, a novel non-neutral resource allocation scheme based on the concept of paid prioritisation, which involves assigning resources to network users in accordance with their classes of subscription fees, was developed. This scheme was then combined with a topology management scheme that reduces energy consumption of the architecture by turning base stations off and back on based on traffic loads, idle waiting periods, and blocked requests. The combination of these schemes created the non-neutral, energy-efficient scenario evaluated. System-level simulations were carried out to compare the performance of two versions of the non-neutral scenario with a conventional net-neutral scenario in terms of QoS and energy efficiency. Simulation results showed that although non-neutrality led to lower average file transfer delay relative to the net-neutral paradigm, it worsened blocking probability and throughput in the system. Furthermore, non-neutrality achieved similar energy efficiency performance as the net-neutral approach at low traffic loads, reaching up to 67.5% Energy Reduction Gain; however, at high traffic loads, it led to significantly poorer energy efficiency