Whole-body SAR measurements of 5G mmW base stations in a reverberation chamber

Sammanfattning: This study presents a method for measurement of whole-body average specific absorption rate (WBSAR) of a millimeter wave (mmWave) antenna in a reverberation chamber. The method takes advantage of multiple radiated power measurements to estimate the power absorbed in a phantom placed in front of the antenna. The first set of measurements is a total radiated power estimation of the antenna. The second set measures the radiated power from the combined antenna and phantom system. By taking the difference between the two measurements, the power absorbed in the phantom and hence WBSAR, which is defined as the total power absorbed in a body divided by the whole-body mass, can be estimated. This method builds on previous reverberation chamber techniques and improves them by isolating only the power absorbed from direct illumination corresponding to a realistic exposure environment of mmWave antennas with high directivity. Verification has been performed by comparing measurements of a horn antenna with a simulation. The difference between measurements and simulation has been found to be less than 1 dB, while the maximum measurement uncertainty was estimated to be 1.1 dB. With the developed method, WBSAR measurements of an Ericsson 5G mmWave base station has been conducted. In 2020 the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) published new guidelines for radio frequency electromagnetic fields containing limitations for WBSAR up to 300 GHz. Since these guidelines are new there is currently no standardized measurement method to assess WBSAR in the mmWave frequency ranges. Therefore, the proposed method could be of interest for standardization institutions.