A Comparison of RF Exposure in Macro- and Femtocells

This paper assesses radio frequency exposure of a mobile handset user in the context of a new class of cellular base station: the femtocell. Traditional cellular network construction relies on using a single base station to cover a large area and serve dozens to hundreds of users. The femtocell (named after the minuscule size of the coverage area) provides a low-power in-home cellular connection for the mobile handset. Consequently, we expect it to behave differently to a macrocell in terms of the users radio frequency energy exposure. Our work focuses on the trade-off in incident power on the mobile handset user when connected to either a macrocell or femtocell using power loss and power control models. Contrary to many individuals initial feeling that putting a base station in your home would increase exposure, our findings indicate that having a femtocell in the home will actual reduce the mobile handset users exposure to radio frequency energy.