Loh, T H; Heliot, F; Cheadle, D; Fielder, T (2020) An Assessment of the Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Field Exposure from A Massive MIMO 5G Testbed. In: 2020 14th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP 2020), 15-20 March 2020, Copenhagen, Denmark.

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Abstract

Current radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure limits have become a critical concern for fifth-generation (5G) mobile network deployment. Regulation is not harmonized and in certain countries and regions goes beyond the guidelines set out by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). Using a massive multiple-input-multiple-output (mMIMO) testbed with beamforming capabilities that is capable of mimicking realistic 5G base station (BS) performance, this paper envisages to present an experimental assessment and a statistical approach on its associated RF-EMF exposure within a real-world indoor environment. The mMIMO testbed contents 128 channels with user-programmable software defined radio (SDR) capability. It could perform zero-forcing precoding after channel state information (CSI) acquisition for different beamforming scenarios with respect to the associated user terminal antenna setups and positions. With 64 active mMIMO transmit antennas, 8 beamforming scenarios have been considered for single-user (SU) and multi-user (MU) downlink communications at different locations. Using a calibrated triaxial isotropic field-probe, the received channel power heat map for each beamforming scenario was acquired and then converted into RF-EMF heat map. The relevant RF-EMF statistics was evaluated based on variation of beam profile and number of users.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Keywords:	radio frequency, electromagnetic field exposure, software defined radio, massive mimo, testbed
Subjects:	Electromagnetics > Wireless Communications
Divisions:	Electromagnetic & Electrochemical Technologies
Identification number/DOI:	10.23919/EuCAP48036.2020.9135291
Last Modified:	18 Jan 2021 14:28
URI:	https://eprintspublications.npl.co.uk/id/eprint/9016