Compliance Boundaries of 5G Massive MIMO Radio Base Stations: A Statistical Approach

In this contribution, we focus on the exposure limits and compliance distances of 5G communication systems based on large antenna arrays with high gain and multiplexing capability. In particular, starting from the observation that the antenna array continuously changes its radiation pattern to communicate with a number of user terminals, we develop a simple approach for evaluating a reliable but not overly conservative boundary for the fields radiated by the antenna array. This approach is based on the use of the Normalized Average Power Pattern, and through the paper we show its behavior and demonstrate its usefulness in some cases of interest. Finally, the obtained results are validated by means of an electromagnetic simulation of the antenna and the propagation scenario, that is achieved by means of a ray-launching code.