Static and Dynamic Propagation-Channel Impairments in Reverberation Chambers

We study the separate and combined effects of static and dynamic multipath channels created in a reverberation chamber on bit-error-rate (BER) measurements of digitally modulated signals. We demonstrate measurement methods to identify individually sources of bit errors arising from a frequency selective channel and discuss why the speed of the mode-stirring paddle impacts the level of BER for certain modulated-signal data rates and bandwidths. An unloaded, high-Q reverberation chamber is studied in the 700 MHz frequency band to clearly illustrate both static and dynamic multipath effects. We describe a rigorous method for calculating the 95% confidence intervals of the measured BER and study the repeatability of the mode-stirring paddle. Our paper illustrates the importance of understanding the correct error bounds when identifying different sources of impairment.