title: In situ LTE exposure of the general public: Characterization and extrapolation.
abstract: In situ radiofrequency (RF) exposure of the different RF sources is characterized in Reading, United Kingdom, and an extrapolation method to estimate worst-case long-term evolution (LTE) exposure is proposed. All electric field levels satisfy the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) reference levels with a maximal total electric field value of 4.5 V/m. The total values are dominated by frequency modulation (FM). Exposure levels for LTE of 0.2 V/m on average and 0.5 V/m maximally are obtained. Contributions of LTE to the total exposure are limited to 0.4% on average. Exposure ratios from 0.8% (LTE) to 12.5% (FM) are obtained. An extrapolation method is proposed and validated to assess the worst-case LTE exposure. For this method, the reference signal (RS) and secondary synchronization signal (S-SYNC) are measured and extrapolated to the worst-case value using an extrapolation factor. The influence of the traffic load and output power of the base station on in situ RS and S-SYNC signals are lower than 1 dB for all power and traffic load settings, showing that these signals can be used for the extrapolation method. The maximal extrapolated field value for LTE exposure equals 1.9 V/m, which is 32 times below the ICNIRP reference levels for electric fields.
authors.affiliation: Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, Interdisciplinary Institute for Broadband Technology (IBBT), Ghent, Belgium. wout.joseph@intec.ugent.be
authors.forename: Wout
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Joseph
authors.forename: Leen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Verloock
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Goeminne
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vermeeren
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martens
mesh_terms: D002947:Cities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D011634:Public Health; D011846:Radio Waves / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013685:Telecommunications; D013997:Time Factors