Human exposure to electromagnetic fields for new wireless technologies and frequencies: software characterization study

Different numerical methods can be used to characterize the 5G New Radio (NR) technology from the point of view of radiofrequency emissions. Before using a specific tool in a real context, it is necessary to calibrate it to evaluate its quality and reliability. This work presents a comparison on the same simulation scenario between two proprietary software, ARMONICA and EXACT which can be used to assess the electromagnetic impact of 5G systems at different frequencies. This preliminary work represents the starting point of a “work in progress” activity leading to the comparison of simulation software results on 5G millimeter wave scenarios, supported by in-loco E-field measurements. The ray-tracing simulations have been performed using the traffic envelope of a 3.7 GHz 5G antenna on a suburban scenario containing a limited number of buildings; simulations have been carried out both on macro-cellular and on small cells deployments. The comparison took place between the simulated E-Field cumulative distribution and between the Efield levels obtained from the numerical simulation in selected points of the map and the results shows compatible E-field levels both for macro and small cell systems.