Abstract : In this paper, we aim to study the Energy Efficiency (EE) of Spatial Modulation (SM) at different Base Stations (BSs) taking into account the total power consumption. Compared to conventional Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) schemes, SM benefits from a single Radio Frequency (RF) chain which results in decreased power supply (W), higher EE (Mbits/J), and reduced complexity. Using the fundamental limits of Shannon capacity, we show that SM achieves a range of average data rates with only a fraction, which can be as low as 24% for four transmit antennas, of the total power supply of conventional MIMO. In addition, we demonstrate that the EE of the studied schemes is maximized for a certain average data rate and that SM achieves the highest EE among them. Finally, we note that a BS employing SM can be up to 67% more energy efficient compared to a BS under a conventional MIMO transmission scheme, for four transmit antennas.
