Analysis of the uniform plane wave distribution model for the reverberation chamber

The reverberation chamber has been making its way into the wireless test and measurement industry for some time now. Originally introduced for electromagnetic compatibility testing, the reverb is considered an average power measurement device, and as such, would seem to be an ideal tool for measuring total radiated power and sensitivity of wireless devices when pattern related information is not needed. However, in order to maintain a reliable wireless connection, it is necessary to degrade the reverberation chamber from the theoretical ideal. This paper evaluates the ideal uniform plane wave distribution model originally introduced to describe the reverberation chamber and compares that to the behavior of a real reverb, then evaluates the impact of various degradations to the uniform distribution to determine their impact on the assumed performance of the test system.