Antenna modeling considerations for accurate SAR calculations in human phantoms in close proximity to GSM cellular base station antennas

Abstract

International bodies such as International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE) make provision for human exposure assessment based on SAR calculations (or measurements) and basic restrictions. In the case of base station exposure this is mostly applicable to occupational exposure scenarios in the very near field of these antennas where the conservative reference level criteria could be unnecessarily restrictive. This study presents a variety of critical aspects that need to be considered when calculating SAR in a human body close to a mobile phone base station antenna. A hybrid FEM/MoM technique is proposed as a suitable numerical method to obtain accurate results. The verification of the FEM/MoM implementation has been presented in a previous publication; the focus of this study is an investigation into the detail that must be included in a numerical model of the antenna, to accurately represent the real-world scenario. This is accomplished by comparing numerical results to measurements for a generic GSM base station antenna and appropriate, representative canonical and human phantoms. The results show that it is critical to take the disturbance effect of the human phantom (a large conductive body) on the base station antenna into account when the antenna-phantom spacing is less than 300 mm. For these small spacings, the antenna structure must be modeled in detail. The conclusion is that it is feasible to calculate, using the proposed techniques and methodology, accurate occupational compliance zones around base station antennas based on a SAR profile and basic restriction guidelines.