Maintaining an ICNIRP-compliant network
In 1998, the The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, known as the ICNIRP published guidelines on limiting human exposure to electromagnetic fields.
The guidelines have become the de facto international standard for EMF safety. The ICNIRP guidelines are reviewed on a regular basis and are endorsed by the World Health Organization.
The ICNIRP guideliens propose field exposure limits as well as control measures to ensure that no member of the public or worker on site is exposed to radio frequency fields higher than those stipulated by the guidelines.
A typical base station installation is not necessarily inherently compliant to the ICNIRP guidelines, due to the transmit power used. Mobile network operators must therefore ensure that the necessary control measures are in place at each and every site.
Ensuring a base station is ICNIRP compliant involves:
- Identifying non-compliant regions or zones.
- Implementing reasonable and practicable engineering or administrative control measures for identified non-compliance zones.
- Monitoring and documenting the above steps rigorously.
Compliance in any network is a process more than a state. This is because of the vast number of base station installations as well as the rapid roll out of new technology. The administrative burden of managing compliance for each base station in a large network can be considerable.
IXUS makes it easy to design, document and manage ICNIRP compliance for a whole network.
