Numerical Simulation of the Field Properties in a Reverberation Chamber in Time Domain

This paper gives insight in the experience gained with time domain simulation of the electromagnetic field properties in an existent reverberation chamber. In general, the reverberation chamber is a challenge for a time domain simulation software as the electromagnetic energy is injected in a highly conducting resonator. Only the conductor losses of the walls and the losses of present field generating or receiving antennas limit the achievable field strengths inside an empty reverberation chamber. Due to these low losses and a resulting high Q-factor, a decay constant of several microseconds is possible. The reverberation chamber, which was simulated in this project, is already calibrated and the according measurement data is available. The aim was to simulate the complete calibration procedure according to IEC 61000-4-21: 2003, Part 4-21 in the frequency range 200 MHz to 1000 MHz. Main parameters for evaluation of the simulation results are the standard deviation, the Q-factor and the achievable field strengths for a given input power.