Scientific program

Nowadays, wireless communication systems are used massively and will continue to increase with the development of connected objects. From the beginning, growing reliance on these systems has led to a scientific and societal debate on the possible impacts of exposure to radio frequency waves on health. In 2009, in order to bring their technical expertise in the area of telecommunications, IMT and Orange created a laboratory dedicated to the communicating human and to the interactions between waves and people, the WHIST Lab.

In 2015, Télécom Paris, in partnership with IMT Atlantique, created an Institut Télécom chair, “Characterization, Modeling and Control of Exposure”, to further develop and broaden the scope of this work. This chair contributes to the characterization, analysis and modeling of exposure to electromagnetic waves induced by telecommunication systems and networks, as well as to the study of the perception of risk linked to this exposure. These studies are part of a multidisciplinary framework, which is technological (numerical calculation, statistics, antenna, network architecture), sociological and philosophical.

The main goals of the chair are to:

  • Develop and adapt numerical methods and high performance computing tools for numerical dosimetry.
  • Develop tools for the creation of digital models of human beings via medical imaging. Develop training tools to adapt the posture of these models.
  • Develop and adapt statistical methods for stochastic dosimetry and factoring in the variability and evolution potential of uses. Build simplified reduced models using statistical methods.
  • Develop and adapt experimental methods for dosimetry.
  • Develop and adapt hybrid (numerical-experimental) augmented methods of measurement for dosimetry.
  • Develop methods to characterize overall exposure in a given population.
  • Examine the influence of network architecture and network technology on a population’s exposure. Study systems and architectures to optimize this global exposure.
  • Analyze the parameters influencing the exposure induced by a communicating device near a person. Examine the influence of technologies and antenna design on exposure.
  • Propose methods adapted to certification.
  • Study the social perception of exposure induced by wireless technology.