Employing electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in new wireless communication and sensing technologies has substantially increased the level of human exposure to EMF waves. This paper presents a useful insight into the interaction of electromagnetic fields with biological media that is defined by the heat generation due to induced currents and dielectric loss. The specific absorption rate (SAR) defines the heating amount in a biological medium that is irradiated by an electromagnetic field value. The paper reviews the radio frequency hazards due to the SAR based on various safety standards and organisations, including a detailed investigation of previously published work in terms of modelling and measurements. It also summarises the most common techniques utilised between 1978 and 2021, in terms of the operational frequency spectrum, bandwidth, and SAR values.

In this study, we propose a design of a multi-band slot antenna array applicable for fourth-generation (4G) and fifth-generation (5G) smartphones. The design is composed of double-element square-ring slot radiators fed by microstrip-line structures for easy integration with radio frequency (RF)/microwave circuitry. The slot radiators are located on the corners of the smartphone printed circuit board (PCB) with an overall dimension of 75 × 150 mm². The proposed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna is designed to meet the requirements of 4G and 5G mobile terminals with essential bandwidth for higher data rate applications. For −10 dB impedance bandwidth, each single-element of the proposed MIMO design can cover the frequency ranges of 2.5–2.7 GHz (long-term evolution (LTE) 2600), 3.45–3.8 GHz (LTE bands 42/43), and 5.00–5.45 GHz (LTE band 46). However, for −6 dB impedance bandwidth, the radiation elements cover the frequency ranges of 2.45–2.82 GHz, 3.35–4.00 GHz, and 4.93–5.73 GHz. By employing the microstrip feed lines at the four different sides of smartphone PCB, the isolation of the radiators has been enhanced and shows better than 17 dB isolation levels over all operational bands. The MIMO antenna is implemented on an FR-4 dielectric and provides good properties including S-parameters, efficiency, and radiation pattern coverage. The performance of the antenna is validated by measurements of the prototype. The simulation results for user-hand/user-head impacts and specific absorption rate (SAR) levels of the antenna are discussed, and good results are achieved. In addition, the antenna elements have the potential to be used as 8-element/dual-polarized resonators.

A closely packed wideband multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)/diversity antenna (of two ports) with a small size of less than 18.5 mm by 18.5 mm is proposed for mobile communication applications. The antenna can be orthogonally configured for corner installation or by placing it on a back-to-back structure for compact modules. To enhance the isolation and widen the bandwidth, the antenna is structured with multiple layers having differing dielectric constants. The feeding through a via significantly reduces the ground waves. A multi-fidelity surrogate model-assisted design exploration method is employed to obtain the optimized antenna geometric parameters efficiently. The antenna design was investigated using electromagnetic simulation and a physical realization of the optimal design was then created and subjected to a range of tests. The specific parameters investigated included reflection coefficients, mutual coupling between the input ports, radiation patterns, efficiency and parameters specific to MIMO behavior: envelope correlation coefficient and pattern diversity multiplexing coefficient. It was found that the antenna has an impedance bandwidth of approximately 4 GHz, mutual coupling between input ports of better than −18 dB and an envelope correlation coefficient of less than 0.002 across the operating band. This makes it a good candidate design for many mobile MIMO applications.

This paper outlines a study of the effect of changing the electrical properties of materials when applied in the Wireless InSite (WI) ray-tracing software. The study was performed at 60 GHz in an indoor propagation environment and supported by Line of Sight (LoS) and Non-LoS measurements data. The study also investigates other factors that may affect the WI sensitivity, including antenna dimensions, antenna pattern, and accuracy of the environment design. In the experiment, single and double reflections from concrete walls and wooden doors are analysed. Experimental results were compared to those obtained from simulation using the WI. It was found that materials selected from the literature should be similar to those of the environment under study in order to have accurate results. WI was found to have an acceptable performance provided certain conditions are met.

A theoretical study of the electromagnetic propagation in a complex medium suspended multilayer coplanar waveguide (CPW) is presented. The study is based on the generalized exponential matrix technique (GEMT) combined with Galerkin’s spectral method of moments applied to a CPW printed on a bianisotropic medium. The analytical formulation is based on a Full-GEMT, a method that avoids usual procedures of heavy and tedious mathematical expressions in the development of calculations and uses matrix-based mathematical expressions instead. These particularities are exploited to develop a mathematical model for the characterization of wave propagation in a three-layer shielded suspended CPW structure. This study is based on the development of mathematical formulations in full compact matrix-based expressions resulting in Green’s functions in a matrix form. The implemented method incorporates a new accelerating procedure developed in the GEMT which provides an initial value used to speed up searching for the exact solution in the principal computation code. This helped us to obtain accurate solutions with tolerable computing time. Good agreements have been achieved with the literature in terms of accuracy and rapid convergence. The results for different cases of bianisotropy have been investigated, and particularly, the effect on the dispersion characteristics is presented and compared with the isotropic case.

This study aims to introduce a new phased array design with improved radiation properties for future cellular networks. The procedure of the array design is simple and has been accomplished on a low-cost substrate material while offering several interesting features with high performance. Its schematic involves eight air-filled slot-loop metal-ring elements with a 1 × 8 linear arrangement at the top edge of the 5G smartphone mainboard. Considering the entire board area, the proposed antenna elements occupy an extremely small area. The antenna elements cover the range of 21–23.5 GHz sub-mm-wave 5G bands. Due to the air-filled function in the configurations of the elements, low-loss and high-performance radiation properties are observed. In addition, the fundamental characteristics of the introduced array are insensitive to various types of substrates. Moreover, its radiation properties have been compared with conventional arrays and better results have been observed. The proposed array appears with a simple design, a low complexity profile, and its attractive broad impedance bandwidth, end-fire radiation mode, wide beam steering, high radiation coverage, and stable characteristics meet the needs of 5G applications in future cellular communications. Additionally, the smartphone array design offers sufficient efficiency when it comes to the appearance and integration of the user’s components. Thus, it could be used in 5G hand-portable devices.