EMF-Aware Cellular Networks in RIS-Assisted Environments

TL;DR

This paper introduces an EMF-aware architecture for 5G cellular networks utilizing reconfigurable intelligent surfaces to reduce population exposure to electromagnetic fields while maintaining service quality.

Contribution

It proposes a novel RIS-based architecture and optimization method to minimize EMF exposure in cellular networks, balancing health concerns with performance.

Findings

Achieves up to 20% reduction in exposure index (EI).

Optimizes RIS phases to balance EMF exposure and quality of service.

Demonstrates effectiveness of RIS in health-conscious network design.

Abstract

The deployment of the 5th-generation cellular networks (5G) and beyond has triggered health concerns due to the electric and magnetic fields (EMF) exposure. In this paper, we propose a novel architecture to minimize the population exposure to EMF by considering a smart radio environment with a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS). Then, we optimize the RIS phases to minimize the exposure in terms of the exposure index (EI) while maintaining a minimum target quality of service. The proposed scheme achieves up to 20% reduction in EI compared to schemes without RISs.