Electromagnetic compatibility study of trackside antenna array miniaturization in the subway tunnel

Abstract To improve the compatibility of the subway tunnel’s electromagnetic environment and reduce the radiation impact of trackside antennas on subway workers. This paper proposes a miniaturized dual-band trackside antenna array by using metamaterial units. Its operation bandwidth is 2.33 ∼ 2.56 GHz and 3.24 ∼ 3.45 GHz, which could simultaneously satisfy the signal cover demands of the communications-based train control (CBTC) and the civil 5G wireless communication system. The proposed miniaturized antenna array has a maximum gain of 14.4 dBi and a maximum channel capacity of 13.9 bps Hz −1 at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 20 dB, which can effectively improve the quality of wireless communication systems. The number of trackside antennas with a single operation frequency band is reduced, and the distance between the antennas is enlarged at the same time. Besides that, we analyze the radiation impact on the tunnel electromagnetic environment of the proposed trackside antenna array. In particular, the electromagnetic dose absorbed by the human model of a tunnel worker is quantized. The results show that the electric field strength in the tunnel reduces by 4.11% at least after antenna array miniaturization, and the specific absorption rate (SAR) absorbed by the worker model’s trunk, skull, brain, heart, and liver is reduced by a maximum of 19.02%, 33.16%, 28.27%, 41.75%, and 74.54%, respectively, further lowering the human electromagnetic exposure risk. Therefore, a miniaturized trackside antenna array could reduce the interference from other radiation sources in the tunnel while providing a new idea for electromagnetic protection for subway workers.