RF exposure in the vicinity of small-cell base stations

In the course of the evolution of mobile radio networks and the increasing high-capacity needs, operators have started to deploy small-cell base stations. To account for possible concerns about the RF exposure, we investigate the exposure for two types of small-cell base stations embedded into street furniture: 1. A phone box (PB) and 2. a service-area interface (SAI). We have found that in public areas the highest exposure amounts to 17.9 % of the electrical field reference level (%E) for the PB and 53.0 %E for the SAI. Downlink exposure and uplink transmit power have been assessed for typical and worst-case user scenarios in the vicinity of the SAI proving that higher downlink field strength leads to lower uplink transmit power values.