Absorption Related to Hand-Held Devices in Data Mode

The human body has an influence on the radiation from hand-held devices like smartphones, tablets, and laptops, part of the energy is absorbed and the spatial distribution of the radiated part is modified. Previous studies of whole body absorption have mainly been numerical or related to talk mode. In this paper, an experimental study involving four volunteers and three different devices is performed from 0.5 to 3 GHz. The devices are a laptop, a tablet, and a smartphone all held in the lap. The 3-D distribution of radiation is measured. Comparing the integrated power in the case of a person present with the device alone allows the determination of the relative absorption in the whole body and the device. In general, the absorption varies considerably between devices and as a function of frequency and person. The absorption varies from almost nothing to close to 100%. The shadowing of the body is apparent in all cases. The losses in the in-built antennas are often dominating and with a maximum total loss of 99% for the smartphone for one user. The absorption in the body is around 50%.