Using CCDF statistics for characterizing the radiated power dynamics in the near field of a mobile phone operating in 3G+ and 4G+ communication standards

Abstract In this article, an original method to assess the radiated power density of the near field in the immediate vicinity of mobile terminals using both electric and magnetic field strengths determination is proposed. The complementary cumulative distribution function (CCDF) is used for the first time to assess exposure. A demonstration of the CCDF’s capabilities for providing a realistic representation of different wireless communication usage profiles is provided. Following the methodology description, an experimental setup was designed and a measurement campaign was conducted on a mobile terminal. The exposure assessment was performed for real life operating situations by selecting seven common application services used by mobile subscribers. For 4G+ communication technologies the near field power density is the highest during file upload, followed by VoIP, video call, file download, streaming services and browsing. For 3G+ networks the higher to lower power density values were associated with: file upload, file download, streaming, VoIP, video call and browsing services. The total near field radiated power density was found to be on average 34 times higher for the tested applications running in the 4G+ as compared to the 3G+, with values ranging from 180 times - during file upload, down to 1.2 times - during video streaming. Significantly higher radiated power densities were emitted while using VoIP and video call on 4G+ network as compared to 3G+ network. Present results strongly suggest that higher exposure is expected for the same application running under 4G+ rather than under 3G+. By applying an original procedure, it has been experimentally highlighted that different generations of communication technologies will lead to different exposure shapes in amplitude and in time, suggesting a future need for introducing the dose rate quantification.