Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Field Measurements in a Commercial 5G Network

Catch the Pitch of 5G FWA: EMF and Throughput Measurements of 3.5-GHz Standalone Deployment in a Baseball Stadium

“…Aerts et al [15] conducted a comprehensive measurement campaign at different locations served by a 5G gNB operating at 3.6 [GHz], and observed an increase in exposure when traffic was directed towards a terminal close to the measurement location. Similar findings were reported by Chountala et al [16] in a different country. Sali et al [17] evaluated the exposure levels for various locations served by a sub-6 GHz network using a network scanner.…”

“…Sali et al [17] evaluated the exposure levels for various locations served by a sub-6 GHz network using a network scanner. The authors found that the field levels were generally higher than those observed in [14]- [16], although it should be noted that these measurements were conducted in a country with different EMF regulations and likely different settings for the gNB output power.…”

“…As the fourth goal, we aim to develop a tool to control the amount of traffic directed towards the measurement location (goal G4). Previous research on 5G exposure in mobile networks indicates a direct proportionality between increased traffic and increased exposure [15], [16], [20], [21]. This relationship must be verified and evaluated in the context of 5G FWA service over mid-bands, and thus, a specialized chain tailored to the generation and assessment of 5G FWA traffic must be designed.…”

Dominance of Smartphone Exposure in 5G Mobile Networks

“…[22], Heliot et al [23] share the idea of measuring the exposure from 5G RBSs by forcing traffic with a terminal in the DL direction from the RBS. The works of Aerts et al [24], Chountala et al [25] and Wali et al [26] complement the previous ones by adding the evaluation of 5G RBS exposure when UL traffic is forced with a terminal. In general, such works demonstrate that the exposure from 5G RBS depends on the amount of traffic that is injected towards the measurement location.…”

EMF Exposure in 5G Standalone mm-Wave Deployments: What Is the Impact of Downlink Traffic?

“…Eventually, Chountala et al [18] design and evaluate a measurement testbed for measuring EMF exposure from a commercial 5G BS operating in the mid-band. Lee et al [19] measure the uplink power and demodulated metrics (such as the Synchronization Signals -Reference Signal Received Power (SS-RSRP)) by exploiting a set of smartphones installed on a van.…”