Description
The Energy Information Function (EIF) is a management function defined within the 3GPP framework, specifically architected to address the growing need for energy efficiency in mobile networks. It operates as a centralized or distributed entity that interfaces with various network functions (NFs) and network elements (NEs) across the radio access network (RAN) and core network (CN). Its primary role is to gather raw energy consumption metrics, such as power usage from base stations (gNBs, eNBs), core network servers, and other infrastructure components. The EIF processes this data, which may include temporal patterns, load correlations, and environmental factors, to generate structured energy information reports.
The EIF works by exposing standardized service-based interfaces (SBIs), as defined in 3GPP specifications like 29.508 and 29.566, allowing other authorized network functions, such as Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF) or Operation, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) systems, to request energy data. It can collect data via push or pull mechanisms, often aggregating information from lower-level energy management agents embedded within network equipment. Key internal components include data collection modules, processing engines for normalization and correlation, storage for historical data, and policy enforcement points to ensure data privacy and access control as per 33.766.
In the overall network architecture, the EIF plays a critical role in the sustainability and operational expenditure (OPEX) reduction strategies of operators. By providing granular, real-time, and historical energy insights, it supports advanced analytics for predicting energy demand, identifying inefficiencies, and automating energy-saving actions. For instance, it can feed data to AI/ML models that optimize network topology or sleep modes of cells based on traffic load. Its integration with management systems enables closed-loop automation, where energy policies are dynamically adjusted, contributing directly to the network's carbon footprint reduction and compliance with green regulatory requirements.
Purpose & Motivation
The EIF was created to address the escalating energy costs and environmental impact of rapidly expanding 5G and future 6G networks. Prior to its standardization, energy management was often vendor-proprietary, fragmented, and lacked a unified framework for collecting and exchanging energy data across multi-vendor network deployments. This made holistic energy optimization challenging and limited the ability to implement automated, network-wide energy-saving policies. The telecommunications industry faced increasing pressure from regulators and society to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, necessitating a standardized approach to measure and manage energy consumption.
Historically, energy efficiency features like base station sleep modes or carrier shutdown were managed in silos within the RAN domain without comprehensive cross-domain visibility. The EIF solves this by providing a centralized, standardized function that bridges energy information from both RAN and core domains. Its creation was motivated by the need to support emerging use cases such as network energy slicing, where energy budgets can be allocated per service slice, and to enable advanced analytics for predictive energy management. By offering a common data model and interfaces, the EIF facilitates interoperability, allowing operators to deploy best-of-breed energy management solutions and integrate with external energy grids or renewable energy sources for smarter energy utilization.
Classification
Detected Changes Across Releases
from 3GPP Change RequestsSpecific changes extracted from the „Change history“ tables of 3GPP specifications (237 CRs across 6 releases). Complements the general historical overview above with the evidence-based evolution of this function.
In Release 15, the Energy Information Function (EIF) was newly introduced as a standalone network function within the 5G core architecture. It is defined with its own service-based interface, Neif, and specific reference points for communication, namely N110 for interfacing with an Application Function (AF) and N111 for interfacing with the Network Exposure Function (NEF). This establishes the EIF as a dedicated entity for managing energy-related information flows.
- Configuration information the UE may exchange with the SMF during the lifetime of a PDU Session TS 23.501CR0003
- Correction to handling of S-NSSAI mapping information TS 23.501CR0020
- Update on Traffic Detection Information TS 23.501CR0026
- Traffic mapping information that disallows UL packets TS 23.501CR0053
- CN assistance information enhancement TS 23.501CR0068
- Management of service area restriction information TS 23.501CR0144
+ 8 more changes
In Release 16, the Energy Information Function (EIF) was introduced as a new Network Function within the 5G core architecture. It is defined with its own service-based interface, Neif, and establishes reference points for communication with an Application Function (N110) and the Network Exposure Function (N111). This addition provides a dedicated architectural component for managing and exposing energy-related information.
- Description of solution 2 in 23.725 for redundancy as an informational annex TS 23.501CR0754
- Use of NWDAF analytics for decision of MICO mode parameters TS 23.501CR0837
- Location information TS 23.501CR0941
- NEF service for NWDAF analytics TS 23.501CR0964
- CR for TS 23.501 Clarifications NWDAF Discovery and Selection TS 23.501CR0987
- Transfer of N4 information for local traffic switching from SMF to I-SMF TS 23.501CR1050
+ 38 more changes
In Release 17, the Energy Information Function (EIF) was newly introduced as a network function within the 5G core architecture. It exposes a new service-based interface, Neif, and interacts with the Application Function (AF) via the N110 reference point and with the Network Exposure Function (NEF) via the N111 reference point. This provides a standardized framework for applications to access network-related energy information.
- Network Slice restriction based on NWDAF analytics TS 23.501CR2567
- NWDAF discovery and selection TS 23.501CR2575
- NWDAF Discovery TS 23.501CR2577
- Extensions of NWDAF services TS 23.501CR2584
- NWDAF discovery and selection based on provided ML models TS 23.501CR2585
- UP path selection enhancement based on analytics info provided by NWDAF TS 23.501CR2586
+ 42 more changes
In Release 18, the Energy Information Function (EIF) was newly introduced as a standardized network function within the 5G Core architecture. It is defined with its own service-based interface, Neif, and specific reference points for communication, including N110 towards an Application Function (AF) and N111 towards the Network Exposure Function (NEF). This formalization provides a dedicated architectural entity for managing and exposing energy-related information, which was not present as a distinct function in prior releases.
- Discovery and Selection of the NWDAF Supporting Federated Learning in 5GC TS 23.501CR3772
- NWDAF discovery principle enhancements for enhanced model sharing TS 23.501CR3783
- Introduction of 5GS Information Exposure TS 23.501CR3887
- Discovery and selection of NWDAF with FL support - Resolve EN TS 23.501CR4070
- SNPN broadcast system information and manual network selection for localized service TS 23.501CR4095
- Update NEF to support NWDAF-assisted application detection TS 23.501CR4105
+ 38 more changes
In Release 19, the EIF (Energy Information Function) was introduced as a new, dedicated network function for exposing energy-related information, with its own service-based interface (Neif) and reference points (N110 to AF, N111 to NEF). This foundational addition enables new capabilities such as AF influence on traffic routing with energy information and supports energy efficiency and consumption information exposure as core services.
- Adding the NAT information exposure and Packet Inspection functionality in the UPF NF profile TS 23.501CR5420
- Introduction of new network function for energy related information, its definition and corresponding Architecture Reference Model TS 23.501CR5636
- General description of relaying media related information over N6 using an encapsulation protocol TS 23.501CR5711
- Support PDU Set information identification based on MoQ for encrypted XRM traffic TS 23.501CR5632
- PDU Set Information Identification for end-to-end encrypted traffic using connect-UDP - architecture part TS 23.501CR5728
- Support of Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving TS 23.501CR5628
+ 75 more changes
In Release 20, the EIF was enhanced with new exposure capabilities for Energy Consumption information, including the Energy Consumption Category and Energy Consumption per bit, and it introduced policy control support for network energy saving via its service-based interface (Neif) and reference points to the AF (N110) and NEF (N111). Additionally, the EIF's role was expanded to expose per-UE application ranking related information and to support energy-aware reselection for N3IWF/TNGF.
- Introduction of EIF exposure of Energy Consumption Category and of the Energy Consumption per bit. TS 23.501CR6487
- N3IWF/TNGF reselection considering energy related information. TS 23.501CR6493
- KI#1: Per UE application ranking related information exposed by EIF TS 23.501CR6501
- Energy Consumption information exposure and policy control TS 23.501CR6508
- Update on architecture and EIF function to support policy control for network energy saving TS 23.501CR6521
- Correction on Energy Consumption calculation for redundant transmission or PDU Session with multiple PDU Session Anchors TS 23.501CR6522
Explore further
Broader topics and technologies where EIF plays a role.
Defining Specifications
3GPP specifications that define or reference EIF, with the latest known release. Sourced from the 3GPP document catalog — see methodology.
| Specification | Title | Release |
|---|---|---|
| TS 23.501 vk00 | 5G System Architecture Stage 2 | Rel-20 |
| TR 26.942 vj00 | Study on Media Energy Consumption Exposure & Evaluation | Rel-19 |
| TS 29.508 vj40 | 5G Session Management Event Exposure Service | Rel-19 |
| TS 29.566 vj00 | Neif SBI for Energy Information Function in 5G | Rel-19 |
| TS 33.766 vj00 | Security Study for 5G Energy Savings | Rel-19 |