The Use of Traditional Spectrum Analyzers to Measure the Electromagnetic Pollution Generated by Wimax Devices

 Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), based on the IEEE 802.16 standards, is a technology that offers mobile broadband access to multimedia and internet applications at low cost for operators and end-users. Similarly to cellular phone or other Radio Frequency devices, WiMAX has to be considered as a possible source of electromagnetic pollution and so, monitoring its emission, could be necessary to verify the compliance with the applicable limits. Generally, the monitoring of the electromagnetic pollution is performed by means of a suitable measurement chain constituted by an antenna connected to a traditional spectrum analyzer. The use of this kind of device to measure the power of digital modulated noise-like signals, such as WiMAX, requires to carefully set many instrument parameters to obtain reliable measurement results, otherwise a significant underestimate or overestimate of the human exposure can be obtained. In this framework, this paper presents a suitable measurement method and spectrum analyzer proper settings able to warrant reliable measurements of electromagnetic emissions due to WiMAX devices.