RC Measurement Uncertainty Estimation Method for Directive Antennas and Turntable Stirring

TL;DR

This paper evaluates measurement uncertainty in reverberation chambers for mmWave frequencies, identifying key factors like antenna orientation that affect measurement accuracy using standardized evaluation methods.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive uncertainty estimation method tailored for directive antennas in reverberation chambers, considering multiple influencing factors and employing statistical analysis.

Findings

Antenna orientation significantly impacts measurement uncertainty.

Finite sample size and polarization imbalance also affect results.

The proposed method effectively quantifies measurement variability.

Abstract

This paper investigates measurement uncertainty in a Reverberation Chamber (RC) within the lower FR2 bands (24.25-29.5 GHz). The study focuses on the impact of several factors contributing to RC measurement uncertainty, including finite sample size, polarization imbalance, and spatial non-uniformity. A series of 24 measurements were conducted using a horn antenna, known for its directivity in mmWave frequencies, varying antenna parameters such as height, orientation, position on the turntable, and polarization within a predefined chamber volume. The measurement uncertainty was evaluated by a method based on the standardized 3GPP and CTIA approaches, incorporating uncorrelated measurements and analyzing Pearson correlation coefficients between measurement pairs. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the frequency-averaged power transfer function to identify the significance and impact of each variable on measurement variability. Additionally, the K-factor was estimated for each measurement set as part of the RC characterization, using an alternative approach to account for the turntable stirring effect. The findings highlight which variables most significantly influence measurement uncertainty, where the antenna orientation emerges as the most significant factor for the mmWave directive antenna setup.