Tactic: Efficiency trap

Tactic sort: Dark Tactic

Type: Unsustainable Pattern

Category: edge-computing

Tags:

Title

Efficiency trap

Description

Similarly to cloud computing, the adoption of edge presents a risk of rebound effect, described in dark tactics efficiency trap and bloating. New technologies part of the edge paradigm are often presented as being more energy-efficient than their predecessors and hence more sustainable. However, as energy-efficient a technology may become, if the rebound in usage is substantial then the overall energy consumption may increase. This increased use may come from the services using the technology, e.g., transmitting 4K video on a device with a small screen just because it is possible, but with no (or negligible) increase in quality of service. It can also come from the technology itself. This is for example the case in 5G, where although a base station is four times more energy-efficient than its 4G counterpart, its total power consumption is still four times higher than a 4G base station (e.g., due to extra antennas required), in addition to the fact that more 5G base stations are needed compared to a 4G network.

Participant

end-user, edge-user, edge-provider

Related artifact

Technology

Context

Normal operation

Feature

A specific service

Tactic intent

Using more a technology, even a more energy-efficient one, which leads to an increase in total energy consumption

Intent measure

How much a service is used - Growth in usage

Countermeasure

To counter these two dark tactics at the service level, the concept of digital sufficiency should be envisioned to reflect upon the quantity of data that is relevant for a certain service/device combination. As a countermeasure regarding the technology itself, the telco providers are already investigating new antennas technologies, network architectures and roll-out strategies and improved base station implementations with energy-saving features for the 5G technology.

Source

*The Dark Side of Cloud and Edge Computing* by Klervie Toczé, Maël Madon, Muriel Garcia and Patricia Lago (DOI: https://doi.org/10.21428/bf6fb269.9422c084)