Experimental Results Obtained in the

Vibrating Intrinsic Reverberation Chamber

Frank Leferink Jean-Claude Boudenot Wim van Etten
Hollandse Signaalapparaten B.V. University of Twente Thomson-CSF Comsys University of Twente
Research, Development & Faculty of Electrical Engineering Hardening, Safe Instumentation Faculty of Electrical Engineering
Technology Department of and Systems Unit Department of
Environmental Test Laboratory Telecommunication Engineering BP 82, 92704 Colombes Telecommunication Engineering
P.O. Box 42, 7550 GD Hengelo P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede France P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede
The Netherlands The Netherlands jean-claude.boudenot@ The Netherlands
[email protected] [email protected] comsys.thomson-csf.com [email protected]

Abstract: Measurements have been performed in a Vibrating The Vibrating Intrinsic Reverberation Chamber
Intrinsic Reverberation Chamber (VIRC). This chamber has
The VIRC is a reverberation chamber with walls made of
varying angles between wall, floor and ceiling. Inside the
flexible conducting material. It is mounted in a rigid structure
VIRC a diffuse, statistically uniform electromagnetic field is
and connected to that structure via flexible rubber strings, as
created without the use of a mechanical rotating mode stirrer.
shown in Figure 1, and drawn schematically in Figure 2. By
In comparison to other reverberation chambers the VIRC
moving one or more ridges or one or more walls the modal
displays an improved low frequency behavior, enabling faster,
behavior of the field inside the chamber is changed, and thus
cost effective testing and allows for in-situ measurements.
the resonance frequencies are changed. Because this frequency
Several measurement results obtained in the VIRC are
shift is much larger compared to what is possible with a
presented in this paper, such as the change in resonance
conventional mode stirrer, the frequency range of the chamber
frequenccy, the stirring ratio and the power density function.
is extended to lower frequencies compared to a reverberation
chambers with equal dimensions. Note the natural corrugation
Introduction
of the flexible walls in Figure 1, which is beneficial for the
A reverberation chamber generally consists of a rectangular spatial uniformity too. Another advantage is that the flexible
test room with metal walls and a mode stirrer, usually in the chamber can be erected inside a standard anechoic chamber
form of a large paddle, near the ceiling of the chamber. The where the EUT has been installed for standard EMI tests, thus
EUT is placed in the chamber and exposed to an reducing measurement time and cost. Furthermore the VIRC
electromagnetic field while the stirrer slowly revolves. The does not need extra space inside the laboratory: it can be
average response of the EUT to the field is found by folded and put away fast. The most important advantage of the
integrating the response over the time period of one revolution flexible structure of the VIRC is that it can be installed in-situ.
of the stirrer. The metal walls of the chamber allow a large
field to be built up inside the chamber. The EUT is therefore
exposed to a high field level consisting of several different
polarizations [1,2,3,4].
The electromagnetic field inside a reverberation chamber is
not time invariant as in most classic test methods utilizing free
space set-ups, but provides a periodic electromagnetic
environment, which is
• randomly polarized, i.e. the phase between all waves is
random,
• spatialy uniform, i.e. the energy density in the chamber is
uniform everywhere and
• isotropic, i.e. the energy flow in all directions is the same.
It has been shown that in a Mode Stirred Chamber (MSC) at
least 200 modes should be available [3] in order to fulfill these
requirements. In [6] several mode modification techniques,
such as irregular walls, a moving wall and the Vibrating
Intrinsic Reverberation Chamber (VIRC) have been discussed.
The VIRC has vibrating walls in order to change the boundary
conditions with large amplitude and short time variation. The
VIRC is decribed in the next paragraph.
Several tests have been carried out using the VIRC. The test
set-ups and results are discussed showing the advantages of Figure 1: The Vibrating Intrinsic Reverberation Chamber
the VIRC compared to other techniques. hanging in strings
 y the minimum field strength to the maximum field
strength. By comparison of the experimental PDF with the
theoretical PDF the quality of the chamber can be found:
if the experimental PDF is equal to the theoretical PDF
then the accuracy of a prediction is very high.
• Cumulative Density Function
h The cumulative probability density function (CDF) is
x
obtained by integrating the PDF. Via the CDF a
l comparison of PDFs for different frequencies, or a
w comparison of chambers is facilitated.
z
• Spatial Field Uniformity
Figure 2: The VIRC: a flexible tent with irregularly Another important parameter is the spatial field
shaped walls and varied angles of the wall-floor-ceiling uniformity (SFU). The SFU gives the ability to generate
interface an isotropic, randomly polarised field which is stochastic
equal in the whole volume of the chamber, exept near the
Experimental characterisation of a reverberation chamber walls. The SFU has not been measured yet.
• Quality Factor
Numerous experiments could be carried out to characterize a
The chamber quality factor Q determines the efficiency of
reverberation chamber. Some of them are:
the chamber in relation to the power needed for
• Resonance frequency variation generating a specific field strength or power density. The
By measuring the field strength as function of the quality factor Q is an important parameter. It should be
frequency for several (fixed) boundary conditions, i.e. very high so that the generated field strength at a specific
VIRC positions, the resonance frequencies and change in net input power is high, and thus a high efficiency. On the
resonance frequencies can be observed. The change in other hand, a low quality factor results in a higher mode
resonance frequency provides an indication of the ‘stirring overlap. The quality factor has not been measured yet.
efficiency’ of the VIRC
• Voltage Standing Wave Ratio Measurement results
By measuring the incident and reflected power as function
of the frequency the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) The measurements were carried out using an experimental
can be obtained. The VSWR indicates at what frequency VIRC, as shown in Figure 1. The size of the VIRC was
the maximum energy transfer can be achieved. approximately 1.5 x 1.7 x 1.9 m. The VIRC was not vibrating
• Stirring Ratio for the measurement of the resonance frequency variation and
By recording the field strength as a function of time the VSWR. For the other measurements (SR, PDF and CDF)
during a periodic or sufficiently random change in the VIRC was randomly excited by three independent persons
boundary conditions the so-called stirring ratio (SR) is creating an amplitude variation of at least 10% of the length,
obtained. This figure is defined as the ratio between the width and heigth of the VIRC.
maximum and minimum field strength at a specific Because the field strength inside the VIRC changes rapidly
position and frequency: compared to the field inside the mode stirred chamber the
standard field strength sensors, as used for EMI testing, are
Emax
SR( f ) = too slow. Therefore a very fast 3-axis sensor was used for the
Emin field strength measurements: the ET2003 [7]. The advantages
The stirring ratio indicates the effectiveness of a stirring of this sensor are the
mechanism. If the stirring ratio would be small then the • low loading of the chamber, thus not decreasing the
boundary conditions are changed only slightly, and, as a quality factor of the chamber,
result, the spatial uniformity could be low. In [8] a stirring • small dimensions (60x60x60 mm),
ratio of at least 20 dB is considered as sufficient. • large bandwidth with flat frequency response
The SR is an assess of the stirring efficiency in terms of (10 kHz - 2.5 GHz),
field strength amplitude, which is an amplitude • large dynamic range (nearly 80 dB) and
modulation. The change in resonance frequency due to a • short risetime (200 ps)
change in boundary condition is also an assess of the making this sensor very useful for reverberation chamber
stirring efficiency, but now in terms of frequency testing.
modulation.
• Power Density Function Resonance frequency variation
The experimental power density function (PDF) is The field strength in the three orthogonal directions was
obtained by normalizing the measured absolute values of measured inside the VIRC as function of the frequency using
the electric field strength (in three directions) by their the set-up as drawn in Figure 3.
mean, and sorting the samples of total field strength from
 MHz and 200 MHz has been drawn in Figure 6. The
resonance frequency variation in the VIRC is quite large, upto
10 MHz for the f011 mode, while the resonance frequency
variation in the MSC is only a few MHz.
20
f101

Field strength [dBV/m/dBm]

f110
10 f011

coaxial optical
-10 Etotal 2
Etotal 3
ESS BR2000-3 Etotal 4
measuring optical -20
receiver receiver 50 100 150 200
Frequency [MHz]
Figure 3: Measurement set-up for field modification Figure 5: Total electric field strength as function of the
frequency for VIRC position 2, 3 and 4
An electromagnetic field was generated inside the VIRC by a
60
log-spiral antenna (150 MHz-1 GHz). The antenna was
Field strength [dBuV/m]

activated by the output of the tracking generator of the

Rohde&Schwarz ESS measuring receiver. The field strength 50
inside the VIRC has been measured using the Thomson-CSF
ET2003 three-dimensional E-field sensor. The output signal of 40
the sensor was fed to the optical receiver via an optical fiber.
The output voltage level of the optical receiver was measured 30
by the ESS measuring receiver for the three axes of the field. MSC, Stirrer pos. 1
The total measured electric field strength between 900 MHz 20 MSC, Stirrer pos. 2
and 1 GHz has been drawn in Figure 4. During the MSC, Stirrer pos. 3 (stirrer moved)
measurements the VIRC was at two fixed positions (position 3 10
and 4), i.e. not vibrating. In this frequency range, 900 MHz – 1 50 100 150 200
GHz, numerous resonance frequencies are available and a
distinctive resonance frequency can thus not be observed. Frequency [MHz]
10 Figure 6: Total electric field strength as function of the
Field strength [dBV/m/dBm]

Etotal 3
frequency for a MSC with 3 stirrer positions
Etotal 4

Voltage standing wave ratio

0 The standing wave ratio (SWR) is defined as the ratio between
the incident and reflected power at a specific position and
frequency. If the measurement impedances are equal (50 Ω)
then the voltage SWR (VSWR) in terms of incident Ui and
reflected voltage Ur is:
-10 U
900 950 1000 VSWR = r
Ui
Frequency [MHz]
If the VSWR equals 1 then all incident energy is absorbed in
Figure 4: Total electric field strength for VIRC position 3 the reverberation chamber. If the VSWR is high then a large
and 4 between 900 MHz and 1 GHz portion of the energy is reflected.
In Figure 5 the total electric field strength between 50 MHz The VSWR for VIRC position 3 has been drawn in Figure 7,
and 200 MHz has been drawn for the situation that the VIRC using the measurement set-up as drawn in Figure 3. From the
was at three fixed positions (position 2, 3 and 4). The VSWR we can calculate the net power injected into the VIRC.
resonance frequencies are evident. The resonance frequency This net power has been drawn in Figure 8. The electric field
variation due to the changed VIRC positions is also strength for VIRC position 3 has been drawn in Figure 9.
noticeable. A similar measurement has been carried out in a By comparison of Figure 8 and 9 the resemblance between net
MSC with dimensions of approximately 2x2x2 m and for three power and resonance frequencies is high, as could be
stirrer positions. The total electric field strength between 50 expected.
 5 11, 12 and 13 respectively. The measurement period was 4 s,
4 with 8000 samples and thus 0.5 ms/sample.
It can be observed in the figures that the SR for 150 MHz was
VSWR

3 less than 20dB. For 400MHz and 1 GHz the SR satisfies the
rule SR>20dB, as stated in [8].
2 10

1
50 1 00 150 2 00 0

Field strength [dBV/m]

F re q u en c y [M H z ]
Figure 7: VSWR for VIRC position 3 -1 0
-1 8
Net Power [dBm]

-2 0 -2 0

Ex Ey
Ez E tot
-2 2 -3 0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000

-2 4 S am p le

50 100 150 200 Figure 11: Field strength as function of time or stirring
F re q u e n c y [M H z ] ratio, for 150 MHz
10
Figure 8: Net power for VIRC position 3
80
Field strength [dBuV/m]

0
Field strength [dBV/m]

70

60
-10

50
V IR C Ex 3 -20
40 V IR C Ey 3
V IR C Ez 3 Ex Ey
E to tal 3
Ez Etot
30
-30
50 10 0 150 2 00 0 2000 4000 6000 8000
F re qu en c y [M H z ] Sample

Figure 9: Electric field strength for VIRC position 3 Figure 12: Field strength as function of time, 400 MHz
10

Stirring ratio
0
The stirring ratio has been obtained by measuring the field
Field strength [dBV/m]

strength as a function of the time at a fixed frequency. In the

measurement period the VIRC was randomly excited by three -10
independent persons creating an amplitude variation of at least
10% in width, heigth and length of the VIRC. The test setup
-20
has been drawn in Figure 10.
The electromagnetic field inside the VIRC was generated by a Ex
Ez
Ey
E to t
R&S SMS-2 generator, amplified by a Kalmus amplifier and -30
injected by the log-spiral antenna. The power level was 0 2000 4000 6000 8000
Sam ple
adjusted to 30 dBm incident power. The field strength inside
the VIRC has been measured using the Thomson-CSF ET2003 Figure 13: Field strength as function of time, 1 GHz
three-dimensional E-field sensor. The output signal of the
sensor was fed via an optical fiber to the optical receiver. The Probability density function
output voltage levels, for every axis (x,y,z) one channel, was The electric field strength has been measured in the three
detected by a logarithmic detector. This detector makes use of ortogonal directions while the boundary conditions were
an AD 8313 integrated circuit, which has a bandwidth of changing; i.e. the VIRC was vibrating. The movements were
2.5 GHz, a dynamic range of 70 dB, an amplitude flatness of random: three persons were independently moving the VIRC.
±1 dB, a noise level of less than –73 dBm and a response time The test set-up was as drawn in Figure 10. Measurements have
of 40 ns. been performed using a sample time of 1 ms for a signal
The stirring ratio, or the field strength as function of the time, frequency of 150 MHz decreasing to 0.1 ms for a signal
for 150 MHz, 400 MHz and 1 GHz has been drawn in Figures frequency of 1 GHz. For every signal frequency (150 MHz,
 500
450
SMS-2 400
M ea sured , V IR C , M P 1 , 30 0 M H z
T h e o re ti c a l P D F , C h i (6 d o f)
350

Number of Samples
300

amplifier 250
200
150
dir. coupler
splitter 100
50
optical 0
0 0 .5 1 1 .5 2 2 .5 3 3 .5 4
F ie ld S tr e n g th [V /m ]

coaxial Figure 16: PDF for 300 MHz

5-channel BR2000-3 400
power optical receiver
meter logarithmic 350
M e a s u re d , V I R C , M P 1 , 4 0 0 M H z
detector T h e o r e ti c a l P D F , C h i( 6 d o f )
300

Number of Samples
250

AR1100 5-ch. 200

analysing 150
recorder
100
Figure 10: Test set-up for measuring the field strength 50
inside the VIRC as function of change in boundary 0
conditions 0 0 .5 1 1 .5 2 2 .5 3 3 .5 4
200 MHz, 400 MHz, 600 MHz, 800 MHz and 1 GHz) 4000 F ie ld S tre n gth [ V /m ]

samples have been recorded. The samples were recorded Figure 17: PDF for 400 MHz
350
simultaneously for the incident and reflected power and the
300
field strength for every axis, giving a total of 5 channels with M e a s u re d , V I R C , M P 1 , 6 0 0 M H z
T h e o r e ti c a l P D F , C h i( 6 d o f )
4000 samples. To obtain the probability density function the 250
Number of Samples

measured absolute value of the electric field strengths in the 200

three directions were normalized. The samples of the total 150
electric field strength have been sorted from the minimum
100
field strength to the maximum field strength. This yields the
experimental probability density function (PDF). The PDFs 50

are shown for the frequencies 150 MHz, 200 MHz, 300 MHz, 0
0 0 .5 1 1 .5 2 2 .5 3 3 .5 4
400 MHz, 600 MHz, 800 MHz and 1 GHz in Figures 14 F ie ld S tre n gth [ V /m ]
through 20. Figure 18: PDF for 600 MHz
300 250

250 M ea sured , V IR C , M P 1 , 1 5 0M H z M ea sured , 8 0 0M H z, V IR C 1

T h e o r e ti c a l P D F , C h i ( 6 d o f ) 200
T h e o r e ti c a l P D F , C h i ( 6 d o f )
Number of Samples

Number of Samples

200
150
150

100
100

50 50

0
0
0 0 .5 1 1 .5 2 2 .5 3 3 .5
0 0 .5 1 1 .5 2 2 .5
F ie ld S tre n g th [ V /m ]
F ie ld S tre n g th [V /m ]
Figure 14: PDF for 150 MHz Figure 19: PDF for 800 MHz
200
400
180
M e asure d, V IR C , M P 1 , 2 0 0M H z 350
160 M easu red , 1G H z , V IR C 1
T h e o r e ti c a l P D F , C h i( 6 d o f )
300 T h e o r e t ic a l P D F , C h i (6 d o f)
140
Number of Samples

Number of Samples

120 250
100
200
80
150
60
40 100

20 50
0
0
0 0 .5 1 1 .5 2 2 .5 3 3 .5
0 0 .5 1 1 .5
F ie ld S tre n gth [ V /m ]
F ie ld S tre n g th [ V /m ]
Figure 15: PDF for 200 MHz Figure 20: PDF for 1 GHz
The theory of the stochastic behaviour of reverberation Furthermore the CDFs for higher frequencies are lower than
chambers is described in detail in [4]. In [4, 9] it is shown that the theoretical CDF, for both the VIRC and the MSC. This
the magnitude of the electric field strength in any direction is could be caused by the direct ray path and corresponding
Χ (Chi) distributed with two degrees of freedom, or Rayleigh Rayleigh-Rice distribution as described in the previous
distributed. This is based on the assumption that there is no paragraph .
direct path between the transmitting antenna and receiving A comparison of the VIRC and MSC CDFs, as shown in
sensor. If there is a direct path between the antenna and sensor Figure 21 and 22, shows that the VIRC CDFs are approaching
then the Rayleigh distribution has to be modified resulting in the theoretical CDF better than the MSC CDF. Therefore we
the Rayleigh-Rice distribution. This distribution results in a can conclude that an estimation of the field strength in the
longer tail for the total electric field strength distribution. VIRC is much more reliable than an estimation of the field
From the comparison between measured and theoretical PDF strength in this MSC. We have to admit that the MSC used for
in figures 14 to 20 we can observe that the measured PDF has the experiments is not optimized as reverberation chamber,
a longer tail than the theoretical PDF. Because the dimension and a properly operated MSC should result in a better CDF.
of the VIRC was small with respect to the transmitting
antenna, the longer tail could be caused by a direct Conclusion
transmission path between transmitting antenna and field
A new type of reverberation chamber to create a spatial
strength sensor.
uniform and isotropic electromagnetic field is the Vibrating
Intrinsic Reverberation Chamber (VIRC).
Cumulative probability density function Several measurements have been performed within the VIRC.
The cumulative probability density function (CDF) for the It was shown that the VIRC can even change the lowest
measurement frequencies 150 MHz, 200 MHz, 300 MHz, 400 resonance frequency by more than 10 MHz, whereas the
MHz, 600 MHz, 800 MHz and 1 GHz are shown in Figure 21. conventional mode stirred chamber (MSC) resonance
To estimate the quality of the chamber the experimental data frequency changes only a few MHz. The stirring ratio was
has been compared to the theoretical curve. A similar more than 40 dB for low frequencies, which proves that the
measurement has been carried out in a MSC. The CDFs are VIRC is capable to change the boundary conditions
drawn in Figure 22. adequately.
The CDF of 200 MHz deviates considerably while the CDF of The field strength at several frequencies has been measured as
150 MHz is nearly equal to the theoretical curve. function of the time and the samples of the total electric field
100% strength have been sorted from the minimum field strength to
200 MHz the maximum field strength, which yields the experimental
80% probability density function. The corresponding cumulative
Theoretical CDF
probability density function (CDF) has been compared to the
Cumulative Probability

CHI (6DOF)

60% VIRC, MP1, 150MHz

theoretical CDF and shows good resemblance.
1 GHz VIRC, MP1, 200MHz

VIRC, MP1, 300MHz

References
40%
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20% IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility, vol.EMC-18,
VIRC, MP1, 800MHz
no.2, May 1976, p.54-9
150 MHz VIRC, MP1, 1000MHz [2] M.L. Crawford, G.H. Koepke, Operational Considerations of a
0% Reverberation Chamber for EMC immunity Measurements - Some
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 Experimental Results, IEEE Symposium on EMC, 1984
Field Strength w.r.t. Mean [3] M.L. Crawford, G.H. Koepke, Design, Evaluation and Use of a
Reverberation Chamber for Performing Electromagnetic
Figure 21: CDF for the VIRC Susceptibility/Vulnerability Measurements, NBS Technical Note 1092,
100%
April 1986.
200 MHz [4] D.A. Hill, Electromagnetic theory of reverberation chambers, National
80% 1 GHz
Institute of Standards and Technology Technical note 1506, dec. 1998
Cumulative Probability

[5] D.I. Wu, D.C. Chang, The Effect of an Electrically Large Stirrer in a
Theory, Chi(6dof) Mode-Stirred Chamber, IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic
60% MSC 1, 200MHz Compatibility, May 1989, pp. 164-169
MSC 1, 400MHz
[6] F.B.J. Leferink, W. van Etten, The Vibrating Intrinsic Reverberation
40% MSC 1, 600MHz
Chamber, IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility, 2000
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Theoretical CDF [7] Mélopée-ET2003, 3-axis Electric Field Sensor, Thomson-CSF
MSC 1, 1000MHz
20% [8] M. Petirsch, A. Schwab, Optimizing Shielded Chambers Utilizing
Acoustic Analogies, IEEE Symposium on EMC, 1997, pp. 154-158.
[9] J.G. Kostas, B. Boverie, Statistical model for a mode stirred chamber,
0% IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility, vol. 33, no. 4,
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 nov. 1991, pp. 366-370
Field Strength w.r.t. Mean [10] C.W. Helstrom, Probability and Stochastic Processes for Engineers, 2-
ed., MacMillan, 1984
Figure 22: CDF for a MSC