Hybrid Ray-Tracing/FDTD Method for Human Exposure Evaluation of a Massive MIMO Technology in an Industrial Indoor Environment

Shikhantsov, Sergei; Thielens, Arno; Vermeeren, Günter; Tanghe, Emmeric; Demeester, Piet; Martens, Luc; Torfs, Guy; Joseph, Wout

doi:10.1109/access.2019.2897921

Cited by 35 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…This model generates realistic industrial environments of a fixed layout (e.g. a warehouse, assembly line) [9].…”

Section: A Ray-tracing 1) Methods Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For a more detailed description of the FDTD simulation setup, its sensitivity and error analysis, see [9].…”

Section: Emf Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, η pw was calculated by normalizing psSAR 10g to the average of the power flux densities in the incident planewave sources defined in (9). This is the value that would be observed in free-space when no user is present, as currently followed by the ICNIRP exposure guidelines [16].…”

Section: Specific Absorption Ratementioning

confidence: 99%

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Massive MIMO Propagation Modeling With User-Induced Coupling Effects Using Ray-Tracing and FDTD

Shikhantsov

Thielens

Vermeeren

et al. 2020

IEEE J. Select. Areas Commun.

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The article describes a numerical approach for Massive MIMO channel modeling that accounts for the effects of electromagnetic coupling between a user and the receiving device. The modeling is performed by a combination of the Finite-Difference Time-Domain and the Ray-Tracing methods, supplemented with a stochastic geometry model of the propagation environment. The influence of user-coupling on the channel properties was studied statistically using the singular value spread and matrix power ratio metrics of the channel correlation matrix. The time-averaged Poynting vector distribution in the near-field of the receiver was evaluated using a realistic human phantom model and the Maximum Ratio Transmission precoding scheme in the downlink. The average enhancement of the timeaverage Poynting vector magnitude at the receiver location, compared to the surrounding area, was found to be around 10 dB when using 36 antenna elements at the base station. The electromagnetic field exposure of the phantom was assessed in terms of the 10g-average peak-spatial Specific Absorption Rate and compared with the existing public guidelines. Comparison of the EMF and exposure results provides a new perspective on the future regulatory procedures.

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“…This model generates realistic industrial environments of a fixed layout (e.g. a warehouse, assembly line) [9].…”

Section: A Ray-tracing 1) Methods Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For a more detailed description of the FDTD simulation setup, its sensitivity and error analysis, see [9].…”

Section: Emf Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Massive MIMO Propagation Modeling With User-Induced Coupling Effects Using Ray-Tracing and FDTD

Shikhantsov

Thielens

Vermeeren

et al. 2020

IEEE J. Select. Areas Commun.

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“…Since the BS transmit power is split over various directions depending on the locations of the users within the area of interest, the actual transmit power level of the 5G BS was found between 7-22% of the theoretical maximum power. Furthermore, in [12], the authors investigated a hybrid method combining the ray-tracing (RT) and the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) to evaluate the DL human exposure due to a single massive MIMO base station in an industrial indoor environment. The RT served for the estimation of the propagation channels, while the FDTD was used for the simulation of the exposure of a human phantom.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-Objective Optimization of Massive MIMO 5G Wireless Networks towards Power Consumption, Uplink and Downlink Exposure

et al. 2019

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The rapid development of the number of wireless broadband devices requires that the induced uplink exposure be addressed during the design of the future wireless networks, in addition to the downlink exposure due to the transmission of the base stations. In this paper, the positions and power levels of massive MIMO-LTE (Multiple Input Multiple Output-Long Term Evolution) base stations are optimized towards low power consumption, low downlink and uplink electromagnetic exposure and maximal user coverage. A suburban area in Ghent, Belgium has been considered. The results show that the higher the number of BS antenna elements, the fewer number of BSs the massive MIMO network requires. This leads to a decrease of the downlink exposure (−12% for the electric field and −32% for the downlink dose) and an increase of the uplink exposure (+70% for the uplink dose), whereas both downlink and uplink exposure increase with the number of simultaneous served users (+174% for the electric field and +22% for the uplink SAR). The optimal massive MIMO network presenting the better trade-off between the power consumption, the total dose and the user coverage has been obtained with 37 64-antenna BSs. Moreover, the level of the downlink electromagnetic exposure (electric field) of the massive MIMO network is 5 times lower than the 4G reference scenario.

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“…In LOS, the base station configuration leads to narrow beams towards the UE (Thors et al 2017). In NLOS, the base station configuration leads to an EMF hotspot at the UE (Shikhantsov et al 2019). This hotspot is created by the interference of multiple reflected and/or refracted paths.…”

Section: Behavior Of Rf-emfs In Mamimo Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protocol for Personal RF-EMF Exposure Measurement Studies in 5th Generation Telecommunication Networks

Velghe

Aerts

Martens

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background The general population is exposed to Radio-Frequency Electromagnetic Fields (RF-EMFs) used by telecommunication networks. Previous studies developed methods to assess this exposure. These methods will be inadequate to accurately assess exposure in 5G technologies. This is due to the fact that 5G NR (new radio) base stations will focus actively on connected users, resulting in a high spatio-temporal variations in the RF-EMFs. This increases the measurement uncertainty in personal measurements of RF-EMF exposure. Furthermore, a user’s exposure from base stations will be dependent on the amount of data usage, adding a new component to the auto-induced exposure, which is often omitted in current studies. Methods The objective of this paper is to develop a general study protocol for future personal RF-EMF exposure research adapted to 5G technologies. This protocol will include the assessment of auto-induced exposure of both a user’s own devices and the networks’ base stations. Results To account for auto-induced exposure, an activity-based approach is introduced. In survey studies, an RF-EMF sensor is fixed on the participants’ mobile device(s). Based on the measured power density, GPS data and movement and proximity sensors, different activities can be clustered and the exposure during each activity is evaluated. In microenvironmental measurements, a trained researcher performs measurements in predefined microenvironments with a mobile device equipped with the RF-EMF sensor. The mobile device is programmed to repeat a sequence of data transmission scenarios (different amounts of uplink and downlink data transmissions). Based on simulations, the amount of exposure induced in the body when the user device is at a certain location relative to the body, can be evaluated. Conclusion Our protocol addresses the main challenges to personal exposure measurement introduced by 5G NR. A systematic method to evaluate a user’s auto-induced exposure is introduced.

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Hybrid Ray-Tracing/FDTD Method for Human Exposure Evaluation of a Massive MIMO Technology in an Industrial Indoor Environment

Cited by 35 publications

References 22 publications

Massive MIMO Propagation Modeling With User-Induced Coupling Effects Using Ray-Tracing and FDTD

Massive MIMO Propagation Modeling With User-Induced Coupling Effects Using Ray-Tracing and FDTD

Multi-Objective Optimization of Massive MIMO 5G Wireless Networks towards Power Consumption, Uplink and Downlink Exposure

Protocol for Personal RF-EMF Exposure Measurement Studies in 5th Generation Telecommunication Networks

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