Development of Automated Radio Frequency Radiation (RFR) Standard

This study will investigate the applicability of computer modeling and simulation to the analysis of personnel radio frequency (RF) radiation hazards. The final goal of this project is to design, develop, and produce a Windows based analysis tool to assist in the evaluation of RF hazards near an antenna. It will perform all routine analysis calculations, as well as near-field power density predictions to determine the hazard zone around that antenna in 3-dimensional space. It will also contain all reference material needed by an analyst. Most hazard analysis of RF systems start with a theoretical prediction of the hazard distance. This hazard distance is the distance to the point where the power density of the antenna's main beam falls off to the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) or Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) level. Presently, most analysts use simple inverse square law calculations and ignore near-field effects. This method frequently produces a gross overestimation of the hazard potential of the source. Antennas to be modeled in this SBIR include aperture (dish) antennas, wire antennas (dipole, monopole, yagi, log-periodic, curtain, etc), antenna arrays, and point sources. The option of including the effects of a ground plane will be included.