Comparison of Average Total EMF Exposure for Microcell/Macrocell Topologies Using Novel Methodology Based on Operational Network Measurements

Abstract

Two outdoor base station macrocell/microcell topologies in operational Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) networks are compared with respect to average Electromagnetic Field (EMF) exposure over population in an area. A novel joint metric is used, accounting for exposure from both base stations and user equipment. The demonstrated method tends to use as much data as possible that can be extracted from various network systems, for the exact time of measurements or on long-term basis, with the aim of identifying the potential for EMF-awareness of future networks. The reduction of total exposure with the introduction of the microcell layer is shown using the proposed method with experimental measurements and compared by mobile network technologies. The introduction of the micro layer brought reduction to total population exposure of 84.6%, in the micro base station coverage area, mostly due to user device exposure reduction in GSM. UMTS user device exposure reduction was even more pronounced, 97.8%, but having less impact on overall exposure, contributing only 1%. Even with the increase in exposure originating from base stations, the reduction of total exposure was visible over the macro area as well, measuring 2.22%. The uncertainties of the evaluation method are identified and usage of advanced tools and methods is proposed to mitigate them.