Advice for testing base station RF exposure

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has published a new technical report on evaluating human exposure to RF fields in the vicinity of base stations, including 5G and small cells.

The report — which illustrates test methods and worked examples on 5G trial sites — will be of benefit to facility managers, building owners, governments, local communities and other stakeholders.

Specifically, the report demonstrates new testing methods for 5G, aims to improve global consistency and accuracy for base station and small cell tests, and will help simplify the implementation of site RF safety assessments through worked examples.

The report is the work of IEC Technical Committee (TC) 106, which develops international standards on measurement and calculation methods to assess human exposure to electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields.

TC 106 members include experts from mobile operators, mobile manufacturers, academia, government regulators and testing laboratories.

“As 5G advances at a rapid rate and networks are deployed, testing base stations to ensure they meet the radiofrequency (RF) exposure standards is an essential step for operators, regulators and the community, providing a reassurance on safety,” said TC 106 Chair Mike Wood, who is also Chair of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association RF Safety Program EME Governance Committee.

“Knowing the importance of 5G and wireless communications on a global scale is what drives our experts, who dedicate many hours including significant personal time to work on international standardisation,” he added.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/iaremenko

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