In-situ evaluation of exposure induced by 5G antennas in the 3.4–3.8 GHz band

Abstract

In this paper, exposure induced in the vicinity of four pilot sites with 5G NR antennas in the 3.4–3.8 GHz band is assessed in-situ. Different manufacturers of antennas and different types of antenna are considered. Measurements are performed without any traffic, with continuous traffic in one direction and with on demand download of files. These measurements highlighted the variation in the level of exposure depending on use and led to the proposal of a new indicator to calculate the actual exposure created by 5G networks with steerable beams. This indicator results in a reduction factor that is used to assess the exposure in live conditions based on the configured maximum antenna power.

Keywords

• 5G NR
• EMF exposure
• In-situ evaluation
• Massive-MIMO
• Beamsteering antennas