Near-Field User Exposure in Forthcoming 5G Scenarios in the 60 GHz Band

The development of millimeter-wave (mmW) technologies comes with concerns related to the user exposure. A detailed numerical dosimetry study is performed for a terminal with a 60 GHz antenna module for several representative human body exposure scenarios within 5G small cells. First, numerical considerations are made regarding the user terminal and human body modeling. Then, the user exposure levels in the near field are analyzed for phone call and browsing scenarios. Results show that power absorption is locally distributed on the ear helix and fingertips. Moreover, we demonstrate that the presence of a hand in the phone call scenario increases absorption in the head. The impact of the human body on the antenna performance is also analyzed.