5g base station power field analysis

Fast variation of the user load and beamforming techniques may cause large fluctuations of 5G base stations field level. They may be underestimated, resulting in compliance of base stations not fitting the requirements. Apparently, broadband field meters would not be adequate for measuring such environments.

This agrees with measurements done in other countries whose authors conclude that the exposure to 5G signals is limited, , , but this does not assure the base station compliance as full load situation should be considered for such assessment. It also shows that the increase in the EMF field is due to the induced data traffic.

5G networks deployment poses new challenges when evaluating human exposure to electromagnetic fields. Fast variation of the user load and beamforming techniques may cause large fluctuations of 5G base stations field level. They may be underestimated, resulting in compliance of base stations not fitting the requirements.

Adding the 5G systems does not significantly increase the overall field levels in the surroundings of the base station, in normal working conditions, compared to those of the previous generation. This has been checked during a measurement campaign in the surroundings of a 5G base station under operation.

The use of broadband field probes for 5G exposure assessment is still possible under certain considerations and correcting the results considering the base station load and beamforming effects. 5G networks deployment poses new challenges when evaluating human exposure to electromagnetic fields.

Section 3 presents a brief analysis of the uncertainty in the field level assessment due to uncontrolled variations of the 5G base station load, which are the main sources of error in this human exposure assessment procedure and, thus, the element to be understood and controlled for analyzing the different approaches to the problem.