A new power estimation method is proposed for base station (BS) in this paper. Based on this method, a software platform for power estimation is developed. The proposed method models power consumption on different abstraction levels by splitting a typical base station into several basic components at different levels in the view of embedded system design. In particular, our focus is on baseband IC (Integrate Circuit) due to it’s the dominant power consumer in small cells. Baseband power model is based on arithmetic computing costs of selected algorithms. All computing and storage costs are calibrated using algorithm complexity, hardware architecture, activity ratio, silicon technology, and overheads on all hierarchies. Micro architecture and IC technology are considered. The model enables power comparison of different types of base stations configured with different baseband algorithms, micro architectures, and ICs. The model also supports cellular operators in power estimation of different deployment strategies and transmission schemes. The model is verified by comparing power consumption with a real LTE base station. By exposing more configuration freedoms, the platform can be used for power estimation of current and future base stations.