Improvement and Testing of Models for Field Level Evaluation in Urban Environment

• Published in: IEEE transactions on antennas and propagation Vol. 68; no. 5; pp. 4038 - 4047
• Main Authors: Fanti, Alessandro, Schirru, Luca, Casu, Sergio, Lodi, Matteo Bruno, Riccio, Giovanni, Mazzarella, Giuseppe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.05.2020; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Antenna measurements; Antennas; Base stations; Cellular communication; Electromagnetic (EM) field estimation; Electromagnetics; EM field measurements; Estimation; Evaluation; Monitoring; propagation models; Radio equipment; Stations; Urban areas; urban environment; Urban environments; Wireless networks
• ISSN: 0018-926X; 1558-2221
• DOI: 10.1109/TAP.2020.2969712

Through the advent of mobile cellular networks the number of radio base stations installed in urban environments has increased exponentially. As a consequence, the level of the electromagnetic (EM) field has increased at the same pace, sometimes approaching the limits set by the national rules. The first step of a compliance test campaign is the field estimation, mainly close to the base stations. In this article, the estimation of EM field generated by UHF base station is presented. A rephrasing of the COST 231 - Walfisch-Ikegami model is used to evaluate the path loss at distances greater than 20 m from the base station. Then, the knowledge of the full antenna pattern allows to estimate the field level. Since antenna manufacturers measure, and publish, only the patterns on the principal planes, an extrapolation procedure is also presented. A measurement campaign in the specific small urban and irregular environments of Dorgali (NU), Cala Gonone (NU) and Lunamatrona (CA), Italy, done in the context of Onde Chiare project, has been used to assess the approach presented here.