Impact of a small cell on the RF-EMF exposure in a train.
The deployment of a miniature mobile-phone base station or small cell in a train car significantly improves the coverage and the capacity of a mobile network service on the train. However, the impact of the small cell on the passengers' exposure to radio-frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) is unknown. In this study, we assessed experimentally the RF-EMF exposure of a mobile-phone user who is either connected to the outdoor macrocell network or to an in-train small cell, while traveling on the train, by means of the absorbed-dose concept, which combines the base station downlink exposure with the mobile-phone uplink exposure. For Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology at 1800 MHz, we found that by connecting to a small cell, the brain exposure of the user could realistically be reduced by a factor 35 and the whole-body exposure by a factor 11.
Department of Information Technology, Ghent University/iMinds, Gaston Crommenlaan 8 box 201, B-9050 Ghent, Belgium. sam.aerts@intec.ugent.be.
Sam
S
Aerts
Department of Information Technology, Ghent University/iMinds, Gaston Crommenlaan 8 box 201, B-9050 Ghent, Belgium. david.plets@intec.ugent.be.
David
D
Plets
Department of Information Technology, Ghent University/iMinds, Gaston Crommenlaan 8 box 201, B-9050 Ghent, Belgium. arno.thielens@intec.ugent.be.
Arno
A
Thielens
Department of Information Technology, Ghent University/iMinds, Gaston Crommenlaan 8 box 201, B-9050 Ghent, Belgium. luc.martens@intec.ugent.be.
Luc
L
Martens
Department of Information Technology, Ghent University/iMinds, Gaston Crommenlaan 8 box 201, B-9050 Ghent, Belgium. wout.joseph@intec.ugent.be.
Wout
W
Joseph
D040421:Cell Phone; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011846:Radio Waves / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011890:Railroads; D059015:Wireless Technology / Q000295:instrumentation