Broadband Forum revamps TR-181 to cut home energy use

Broadband Forum has updated its TR-181 device data model with new power management functions for connected home equipment, aiming to cut electricity use from devices such as home gateways, repeaters and set-top boxes.

The standards body said the changes could allow equipment in homes across Europe to enter low-power and deep standby modes. It forecast energy savings of up to 1.3 TWh from households across the region. Broadband Forum said that level of reduction equated to enough electricity to power up to 70 new small data centres across Europe, or the annual residential needs of a mid-size city.

The work focuses on devices that stay powered for long periods and often run at full capability even when households do not actively use them. Broadband Forum said connected home equipment has become more sophisticated. It said energy efficiency now ranks as a design consideration for broadband hardware.

Broadband Forum described the update as the latest extension to TR-181 Issue 2 Amendment 20. It said broadband service providers and manufacturers can use the new functions when designing and introducing devices with lower energy consumption. It said providers can keep service levels for customers while changing how devices manage power.

Standby options

The standards body said home gateways, repeaters and set-top boxes will be able to enter low-power, energy-saving, or deep standby modes. It said that shift could lower energy use in households. It linked the projected 1.3 TWh saving to the annual residential electricity needs of cities such as Athens, Copenhagen, or Lisbon.

SoftAtHome Chief HGW Standardization Architect David Cluytens said the update reflected industry focus on energy efficiency.

"As connected homes grow increasingly sophisticated, energy efficiency is becoming a defining design consideration for broadband equipment," said David Cluytens, Chief HGW Standardization Architect, SoftAtHome. "This work from the Broadband Forum reflects a collective global industry effort to align broadband technologies with sustainability objectives, such as those outlined in the French Energy Transition Law for Green Growth", he continued.

Device management

Broadband Forum said TR-181 works as a device data model for managing connected equipment. It said that, when used over a User Services Platform network, the model introduces standard mechanisms for control and monitoring of power consumption for embedded network technologies.

Those technologies include Wi‑Fi, Ethernet, USB, xPON and Thread, according to Broadband Forum. It said the model supports interoperability between devices and management software from different vendors. It also said service providers can use the model to manage connected devices in the field.

Broadband Forum CEO Craig Thomas said the update linked to sustainability targets for the sector.

"The latest power saving efforts highlight how the Broadband Forum's members continue to look for ways to improve economic and environmental sustainability for the industry," said Craig Thomas, CEO, Broadband Forum. "The TR-181 update represents a huge step forward for hitting sustainability targets in the years ahead."

Remote monitoring

Broadband Forum said the update enables remote power consumption monitoring for individual hardware components. It said the update also enables installation of the power management function as a containerised solution. It said vendors can deploy that capability remotely on hardware from different suppliers.

The organisation listed a set of new features in the update. These include Ethernet Energy Detect Power Down, LED brightness management, CPU frequency scaling, and dynamic control of the number of active Wi‑Fi receive and transmit antenna chains.

The changes arrive as operators and vendors face scrutiny over the energy footprint of broadband access and the connected equipment installed in homes. Service providers increasingly manage customer premises equipment remotely. Standards-based control systems can shape how devices behave across large installed bases.

Broadband Forum framed its 1.3 TWh estimate around household scale. It said the forecast assumed approximately 200 million households in the EU have internet access.

It also cited a separate estimate from Orange that turning off the 5GHz Wi‑Fi radio for 10 hours per day across around 11 million Livebox subscribers in France would save 64 GWh annually. Broadband Forum said that estimate focused on switching off the Wi‑Fi radio. It said the rest of the router would continue to run, including the optical network unit, Ethernet switch, phone port, processor and power supply. It said the model assumed similar power profiles across routers from other providers.

Broadband Forum said the updated data model provides a standard route for power control and monitoring across multiple device types and vendors. It said the new extensions will shape future device designs and deployments across service provider networks.