Simulation of 5G MU-MIMO radiation patterns in the 3.5 GHz band in urban environments for future EMF exposure assessment

In this paper we study the influence of the built environment on the shape of radiation patterns of 5G MU-MIMO beamforming antennas, using simulation, to better characterize the downlink exposure in future 5G networks. A real database of existing and future 5G sites is used as a corpus of test sites. Simulations of beamforming on these sites lead to a large set of radiation patterns, each pattern representing the time averaged behavior of an antenna. The distribution of the intrinsic parameters of these patterns (gain, apertures) are then analysed and compared to an envelop pattern of all beam directions.