Towards Environmental RF-EMF Assessment of mmWave High-Node Density Complex Heterogeneous Environments

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Computational Electromagnetics
• Health Physics

Background:

• Modern wireless systems, including 5G mmWave, create complex, high-density heterogeneous networks.
• Assessing radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure in these environments is crucial for public health and regulatory compliance.
• Existing assessment methods may not fully capture the complexities of dense indoor mmWave deployments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a comprehensive RF-EMF exposure assessment for a high-node density indoor environment.
• To evaluate the impact of coexisting wireless services (5G FR2, 802.11ay) in the mmWave spectrum.
• To validate a novel 3D ray launching simulation tool for RF-EMF exposure assessment.

Main Methods:

• Developed and utilized an enhanced in-house deterministic 3D ray launching (3D-RL) simulation tool.
• Characterized RF-EMF E-field in a public library, considering 5G FR2 (28 GHz) and 802.11ay (60 GHz) services.
• Incorporated advanced propagation features: directive antennas, MIMO beamforming, body shielding, material properties, and scatterer distribution.

Main Results:

• Simulations demonstrated RF-EMF exposure levels significantly below international safety limits.
• The coexistence of multiple heterogeneous networks was analyzed, showing minimal additive exposure.
• The 3D-RL simulation technique was validated against empirical measurement campaigns, showing good agreement.

Conclusions:

• The proposed RF-EMF simulation tool and methodology provide a reliable approach for assessing exposure in dense mmWave networks.
• The findings support the safe deployment of current and future wireless technologies in the mmWave spectrum.
• This work offers a reference for designing, deploying, and assessing RF-EMF exposure in high-density heterogeneous wireless environments.