Network-Based Assessment of Actual EIRP of 5G Base Stations in a Stadium With 100 000 People and Implications on EMF Compliance

In this study, the actual time-averaged equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP) levels of nine 5G massive multiple-input–multiple-output base stations (BSs) located inside the Melbourne Cricket Ground were assessed. Measurements were conducted during the 2023 Australian Football League Grand Final with a full stadium capacity of over 100 000 attendees, under extreme mobile traffic and user density conditions. Precoding matrix indicator and time-averaged output power data of the BSs were collected using a network monitoring tool to obtain actual time-averaged EIRP statistics corresponding to the spatial distribution of power transmission in different beam directions. The results show that, even under exceptional traffic conditions, the actual time-averaged EIRP levels were significantly below the maximum, with the mean and 95<inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{th}$</tex-math></inline-formula> percentile values being 7.6% and 9.5% of it, respectively. This corresponds to a reduction of the electromagnetic fields compliance distance by about 60% compared to the theoretical maximum exposure scenario.