IEEE Committee Research Articles

IEEE Committee on Man and Radiation-COMAR Technical Information Statement: Health and Safety Issues Concerning Exposure of the General Public to Electromagnetic Energy from 5G Wireless Communications Networks.

This COMAR Technical Information Statement (TIS) addresses health and safety issues concerning exposure of the general public to radiofrequency (RF) fields from 5G wireless communications networks, the expansion of which started on a large scale in 2018 to 2019. 5G technology can transmit much greater amounts of data at much higher speeds for a vastly expanded array of applications compared with preceding 2-4G systems; this is due, in part, to using the greater bandwidth available at much higher frequencies than those used by most existing networks. Although the 5G engineering standard may be deployed for operating networks currently using frequencies extending from 100s to 1,000s of MHz, it can also operate in the 10s of GHz where the wavelengths are 10 mm or less, the so-called millimeter wave (MMW) band. Until now, such fields were found in a limited number of applications (e.g., airport scanners, automotive collision avoidance systems, perimeter surveillance radar), but the rapid expansion of 5G will produce a more ubiquitous presence of MMW in the environment. While some 5G signals will originate from small antennas placed on existing base stations, most will be deployed with some key differences relative to typical transmissions from 2-4G base stations. Because MMW do not penetrate foliage and building materials as well as signals at lower frequencies, the networks will require “densification,” the installation of many lower power transmitters (often called “small cells” located mainly on buildings and utility poles) to provide for effective indoor coverage. Also, “beamforming” antennas on some 5G systems will transmit one or more signals directed to individual users as they move about, thus limiting exposures to non-users. In this paper, COMAR notes the following perspectives to address concerns expressed about possible health effects of RF field exposure from 5G technology. First, unlike lower frequency fields, MMW do not penetrate beyond the outer skin layers and thus do not expose inner tissues to MMW. Second, current research indicates that overall levels of exposure to RF are unlikely to be significantly altered by 5G, and exposure will continue to originate mostly from the “uplink” signals from one’s own device (as they do now). Third, exposure levels in publicly accessible spaces will remain well below exposure limits established by international guideline and standard setting organizations, including ICNIRP and IEEE. Finally, so long as exposures remain below established guidelines, the research results to date do not support a determination that adverse health effects are associated with RF exposures, including those from 5G systems. While it is acknowledged that the scientific literature on MMW biological effect research is more limited than that for lower frequencies, we also note that it is of mixed quality and stress that future research should use appropriate precautions to enhance validity. The authorship of this paper includes a physician/biologist, epidemiologist, engineers, and physical scientists working voluntarily and collaboratively on a consensus basis.

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

COMAR releases a new technical information statement (TIS) on 5G wireless communications networks

The IEEE Committee on Man and Radiation (COMAR) has released a New TIS on “Health and Safety Issues Concerning Exposure of the General Public to Electromagnetic Energy from 5G Wireless Communications Networks.” My colleague Bob Olsen, also an Associate Editor of the EMC Magazine, provided a related article to this activity, “RF Safety Regulation Background Relevant to 5G” in the last issue of the EMC Magazine, 2nd Quarter 2020, Volume 9, Issue 2. Associate Editor's Note — The following information is an abridged version of the full TIS. All errors and omissions are solely the Associate Editor's responsibility. Thanks to the COMAR authors of this paper for their efforts in putting together the TIS on this important topic. The full TIS can be found at the COMAR web page — https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/embs/comar/.

Announcing the new associate editor for book reviews

We are pleased to announce Robert G. Olsen with Washington State University will become our new Associate Editor for Book Reviews in 2020. Some of our readers may remember Bob, as he is better known, since he was a prior Associate Editor for Practical Papers, Articles, and Application Notes for the EMC Newsletter. He is well known for his work on high voltage EMC as well as for his activity supporting the IEEE Committee on Man and Radiation (COMAR). While Bob has retired from full time teaching at Washington State University, he is now Professor Emeritus and remains active in the EMC and COMAR communities. Following is some information on Bob's recent activities since he was a member of the EMC Newsletter staff.

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

Generation Rate Constraints Physical Identification and Modeling in AGC of Multi-Area Power Systems

In this article, generation rate constraints (GRCs) of power generating units are modeled accurately in transfer function modeling of automatic generation control (AGC) system. Typically, GRCs are used to restrict the rate of change of plant generating unit’s power output in order to mimic the realistic dynamic behavior of AGC system. Though, this practice of limiting plant generating unit’s response using GRCs was inferred from the IEEE committee report published in 1967. IEEE working group named as “power plant response” carried out investigations to study the maximum allowable rates of load changes for thermal, hydro and gas based power generating units. In this investigation, it was clearly stated that study is not intended to analyze the ability of plant generating units to cope with changing power system load. However, this study was misinterpreted and researchers started to use GRCs to restrict the rate of change of generating unit’s power outputs. This article rectifies the aforementioned anomaly and presents the accurate placement of GRCs in AGC transfer function model. The study is validated with the dynamic responses of actual 500 MW thermal generating unit and from the tripping tests performed by IEEE working groups in 2001.

An overview of information technology standardization activities related to additive manufacturing

As Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies and connected machines are ever more widespread across most industries, there is a need for a better understanding about the standardization activities related to information technology (IT) within the scope of AM. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of existing standardization activities related to IT aspects of AM, including but not limited to data transfer and exchange. The paper covers the IT standardization activities in organizations, including ISO TC261, ASTM International, ISO TC 184, ISO/IEC JTC 1, Web3D Consortium, IEC committees, IEEE committees, 3MF Consortium and Khronos, which have the most active and ongoing projects. From this study, it can be observed that the manufacturing sector has generated the majority of standardization work, followed by industry R&D areas and the medical field. This paper also discusses two future IT standards for AM service platforms and for the medical industry.

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

2017 IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

2017 IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

Discrete Data AGC of Hydrothermal Systems Under Varying Turbine Time Constants Along With the Power System Loading Conditions

The paper deals with the discrete data automatic generation control (AGC) of two area hydrothermal power system operating at different loading conditions. The power system load varies considerably throughout the day and accordingly, thermal and hydropower systems are scheduled to operate at different loading conditions. It is found that steam as well as hydro turbine time constants vary as the power system loading varies. In earlier AGC studies, these parameters are considered to be constant, irrespective of power system loadings. This paper studies the dynamic performance of hydrothermal power system considering the variation of these turbine time constants along with the nominal loading of power system. The studies have been conducted for linear as well as nonlinear models of speed governor and hydroturbine models recommended by the IEEE committee. It is also discovered that conventional empirical formula-based hydraulic governor settings recommended by the IEEE working group are completely unacceptable for hydrothermal power system. A maiden attempt is made to optimize the hydraulic governor settings simultaneously along with the controller gains using metaheuristic algorithm. The comparison of system dynamic responses reveal that optimization-based hydrogovernor settings give the better dynamic performance in case of linear as well as nonlinear models of hydro system, and therefore are strongly recommended over the conventional settings. The paper also deals with the optimum selection of sampling periods for discrete data AGC operation of hydrothermal systems.

2017 IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

2017 IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

2017 IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

2017 IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

2017 IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs

2017 IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Officers and Committee Chairs