Ray tracing-based analysis of the influence on the scattering of the electric field caused by the measuring person at 6G frequencies

Constantly increasing demands on mobile communications require continuous development of the network and technologies. Therefore, many institutions are already working on the next mobile network generation 6G, which is expected to work on the same frequency as 5G New Radio (410 MHz to 7.125 GHz and 25.25 GHz to 71 GHz [1]) as well as the sub-THz frequencies (90 GHz – 300 GHz) [2]. For radiation protection it is important to obtain reliable data on the actual electromagnetic exposure to ensure that the exposure safety limits according to the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) [3] are not exceeded. However, the person performing the measurement can be a significant source of uncertainty on the assessment of radio frequency (RF) exposure. Due to the presence of the person, the electric field can be distorted. Furthermore, reflection occurring from the body can superimpose with the incident waves and lead to a standing wave with constructive and deconstructive interferences. This may lead to a misinterpretation of the actual exposure. The uncertainty caused by reflection from a body has been estimated in [4] by simulations for the frequencies in the range from 0.3 MHz to 10 GHz. In [5] a measurement-based investigation was performed for GSM, LTE and 5G in sub-6 GHz frequency range and for 5G in frequency range 2 (FR2) at 27 GHz for an indoor and outdoor scenario. A numerical follow-up and extension of these studies for higher frequencies and different incident angles using ray tracing method in CST Studio Suite 2023 is presented here. The frequencies analysed were 27 GHz, 60 GHz, 80 GHz and 100 GHz.