RF Exposure Assessments in Proximity of Small Cells

The fifth generation of mobile networks will be based on heterogeneous networks composed of long range macro cells and of medium range small cells to face the tremendous increase of mobile data demand. These small cells will be potentially more numerous than the macro ones, closer to the user and less powerful. This paper is interested in RF exposure assessments in proximity of these small cells. A number of normative measurements have been performed on two trials conducted on commercial networks in France. These measurements have shown that the global average level of exposure induced in an area of 100 meters around the sites is not significantly impacted by the small cells (between 0.17 and 0.55 V/m when small cells are in service and between 0.15 and 0.54 V/m when small cells are off). Very localized and close to the site, maximum values of E field of 1 to 3 V/m have been measured. These maximum values are comparable with levels that the long range antennas of the actual network can induce: in France, in 2016, 1% of the in situ measurements in urban area are above 5.6 V/m.