Electromagnetic Field Levels in Built-up Areas with an Irregular Grid of Buildings: Modeling and Integrated Software

Abstract

The knowledge of the electromagnetic field levels generated by radio base stations present in an urban environment is a relevant aspect for propagations and coverage issues, as well as for the compliance to national regulations. Despite the growing interest in the novel fifth generation (5G) technology, several aspects related to the investigation of the urban propagation of the Global System of Mobile Communication (GSM), third generation (3G), and fourth generation (4G) mobile systems in peculiar non-rural environments may be improved. To account for irregular geometries and to deal with the propagation in hilly towns, in this work we present an enhanced version of the COST231-Walfisch–Ikegami model, whose parameters have been modified to evaluate the path loss at distances greater than 20 meters from the radio base station. This work addressed the problem of providing an effective, reliable, and quantitative model for the estimation of electromagnetic field levels in built-up areas. In addition, we also developed and tested a pre-industrial software prototype whose aim is to make the estimated electromagnetic field levels available to the key players in the telecom industry, the local authorities, and the general population. We validated the proposed model with a measurement campaign in the small urban and irregular built-up areas of Dorgali (Nuoro), Cala Gonone (Nuoro), and Lunamatrona (Cagliari) in Sardinia (Italy).

Upgrading of the L-P Band Cryogenic Receiver of the Sardinia Radio Telescope: A Feasibility Study

“…These signals do not represent a problem for the receiver, because they are located in the edge of the receiver bandwidth and, in the case of the signal at 1375 MHz, in a zone populated by other RFIs from Italian army radars. In Figure 11a [48,49]), which have nothing to do with the GAIA board. In fact, these signals occur both when the board is powered on (blue curve) and when the board is powered off (red curve).…”

“…The comparison between the S21 parameter of the new BPF, obtained with Matlab simulations, and the old BPF (model 5B120-1540/T520-O/O from K&L), installed on the receiver, is shown in Figure 15. Thanks to the features of the new BPF, it is possible to attenuate adequately the mobile communications signals (1810-1880 MHz [48,49] The analysis of the P-band and L-band channels is conducted considering the broadest bandwidth possible for the receiver, according with the features of the front-end described in Section 2. On the other hand, thanks to the movement of the receiver filter selector block in the APEX room, it is possible to install, at any time, new filters on the receiver that cover a portion of these broadest receiver bandwidths to suite the requirements of the scientific researchers.…”

“…With the aim of maximizing the scientific research results and extending them to new high frequencies (up to 116 GHz) not yet covered by SRT, INAF has recently expressed an interest to upgrade the telescope. For these reasons, a National Operational Program (PON) funding [25] has been allocated to INAF by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, with the aim to install on the telescope four new receivers that operate in Q-band (33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50) and W-band (70-116 GHz) [25][26][27]. The works relating to the PON project have imposed a stop on the SRT operations and, consequently, the temporary dismantling of the old receivers (P-band, L-band, C-band and K-band [9], respectively).…”

Atmospheric Propagation Modelling for Terrestrial Radio Frequency Communication Links in a Tropical Wet and Dry Savanna Climate

“…In terrestrial cellular communication networks, the electromagnetic waves radiate through the space communication channels [1][2][3]. Generally, the transmitted electromagnetic waves, the primary information carrier, spread out via the transmitting and receiver antennae, employing different propagation mechanisms such as scattering, diffraction, reflection, and refraction [4].…”

Electromagnetic Scattering and Its Applications: From Low Frequencies to Photonics

“…This point may be critical if irregular geometries are involved. In [8], a model for the estimation of electromagnetic field levels in built-up areas, which enhances the COST231-Walfisch-Ikegami model [9,10], and able to effectively deal with the built-up scenarios of hilly, largely variable, and small, irregularly arranged towns, is developed and validated from an experimental viewpoint.…”