ABSTRACT For a variety of wireless sensor network applications, sensor nodes may find their received signal strengths dominated by small-scale propagation effects. Particularly impacted are applications designed to monitor structural health and environmental conditions in metal cavities such as aircraft, busses, and shipping containers. Small changes in each sensor’s position or carrier frequency can cause large variations in this received signal strength, thereby compromising link connectivity. We leverage a technique called Wireless Sensors Sensing Wireless (WSSW) in which wireless sensors act as scalar network analyzers in order to characterize their own environment. WSSW data can enable sensors to react to particularly bad fading, such as hyper-Rayleigh, by switching to a good channel or by implementing other mitigation techniques, such as utilizing a diversity antenna. In this work, the WSSW concept has been extended to accommodate mesh networks and include a spectrum analysis capability for recognizing potentially interfering wireless activity. The test of mitigation techniques is often problematic since application sites are far from controlled environments and are often difficult to access. To address this problem, we have developed a Compact Reconfigurable Channel Emulator (CRCE) to create a laboratory environment that is configurable to a variety of repeatable fading scenarios. With the CRCE, fading characteristics found at a specific wireless sensor network location may be replicated inside the chamber to discover the connectivity capabilities of the sensors and the effectiveness of diversity schemes (e.g., channel switching or multi-element antenna arrays).

This thesis is the final module of the Master's program in Electronics Design at Halmstad University. The Master Thesis work is a part of an ongoing development of Halmstad University's reverberation chamber (RC), which is aimed at frequencies in the low GHz range. The development process has been passing in several phases. One phase is to design a mechanical stirrer system which was done by the work presented in another thesis work. The current phase, which is done by this thesis work, is to investigate electromagnetic field uniformity and isotropy while using tuned-mode (stepped stirrer). The frequency 2.4 GHz was chosen because, from one hand, it fits the capability of the assigned equipment for this thesis (spectrum analyzer, signal generator, antennas). On the other hand, it is the operating frequency of a wide range of WIFI and BlueTooth devices that need to be tested inside the RC to comply with the Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) standards. The measurement results verified, to a reasonable extent, the field uniformity and isotropy. The standard deviation of all measurements, taken from different eight positions with three different orientations of the receiving antenna, was 1.5dB. It is less than 3dB fulfilling the IEC 61000-4-21standards for frequencies above 400MGHz. Moreover, a quality factor degradation test was conducted, showing a 3.5 dB reduction of the received power when the chamber was loaded by organic material. The received power, while sweeping the bandwidth 800MHz-1.5GHz, was measured. These results indicate that at the resonance frequencies of the chamber, the received power is higher than that at non-resonance frequencies.

<p>This thesis covers the development of the Reverberation Chamber as a measurement tool for cell phone tests in electronic production. It also covers the development of the Scattered Field Chamber as a measurement tool for simulations of real propagation environments.</p><p>The first part is a more ”general knowledge about Reverberation Chambers”-part that covers some important phenomena like unstirred power and position dependence that might occour in a small Reverberation Chamber used for cell phone tests. Knowing how to deal with these phenomenas, give the possibility to use the chamber as a measurement tool for production tests even though it is too complex for a simple test of the antenna function.</p><p>The second part shows how to alter some important propagation parameters inside the chamber to fit some real world propagation environments. The 3D plane wave distribution, the polarization and the amplitude statistics of the plane waves are all altered with simple techniques that are implementable all together. A small, shielded anechoic box with apertures is used to control 3D plane wave distribution and polarization. Antennas that introduce unstirred power in the chamber are used to control the statistics.</p><p>Keywords: Propagation environment, Mean Effective Gain, Reverberation Chamber, Scattered Field Chamber, Channel model</p>

A reverberation chamber is a highly conductive cavity in which it is possible to generatehigh electromagnetic elds that can be considered statistically homogeneous. Reverberationchambers have existed as a resource for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing formore than 30 years. Working to promote international co-operation on standardization, severalorganizations have published various EMC standards. At Combitech AB in Linkopinghave a chamber that is commercially used for dierent types of measurements. To makethe chamber more attractive and versatile it is within their interest to get a system whichis compatible with the latest standards. The project aimed to develop a control system forthe reverberation chamber at Combitech and to equip it with functionality enabling it tomake measurements according to current EMC standards. Using the programming softwareAgilent VEE a program was developed to communicate with the supporting equipment andmanage test routines. Within the program software lies functionality directly associate withmode stirring and mode tuning procedures for standards DO-160F and MIL-STD. Duringmeasurements the program has abilities for skipping frequencies, pause/continue the currentsweep, executing preset events and adding commented markers to the plot window. Someother usable functionality implemented is project save/load, help section, directory selectionand data export abilities. The system holds functionality enabling measurements accordingto the standards in question, though future work will be needed to be able to carry througha proper and correct measurement routine.

Die Elektromagnetische Verträglichkeit (EMV) betrachtet die Fähigkeit eines elektrischen Gerätes, in seiner elektromagnetischen Umgebung störungsfrei zu funktionieren, ohne diese dabei unzulässig zu stören. Zur Prüfung der Elektromagnetischen Verträglichkeit werden verschiedene Messumgebungen verwendet. Die Messung der strahlungsgebundenen Störfestigkeit und Störaussendung kann zum Beispiel in einer Modenverwirbelungskammer (MVK) erfolgen. Bei der Störfestigkeitsmessung wird der Prüfling einem externen Prüffeld ausgesetzt und untersucht, ob dieser die definierten Kriterien für einen störungsfreien Betrieb erfüllt. Für das Prüffeld muss vor der Messung nachgewiesen werden, dass die Anforderungen an dessen Homogenität eingehalten werden. Einen entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Homogenität des Prüffeldes hat der sogenannte Rührer. Bei einer MVK handelt es sich prinzipiell um einen Hohlraumresonator, in den ein mechanischer Rührer, d.h. ein elektrisch großer, drehbarer Streukörper integriert wird. Durch die Drehung des Rührers verändert sich die Feldverteilung in der MVK, was auch als Verwirbelung bezeichnet wird. Prinzipiell ergibt sich für jede Stellung des Rührers ein inhomogenes Feld mit lokalen Minima und Maxima. Ein Ziel bei der Verwendung von Modenverwirbelungskammern ist es, mit Hilfe geeigneter Verfahren Rührerstellungen zu finden, deren Feldverteilungen in Überlagerung ein möglichst homogenes Prüffeld erzeugen. Zum Lehrstuhl für Theoretische Elektrotechnik und Elektromagnetische Verträglichkeit der Technischen Universität Dresden gehört seit 2010 eine Modenverwirbelungskammer. Die Charakterisierung dieser MVK sowie eine weiterführende Untersuchung zur Wahl der Rührerstellungen bilden die Schwerpunkte der vorliegenden Arbeit. / In 2010 the Chair of Electromagnetic Theory and Compatibility of Technical University Dresden could extend its laboratories by a reverberation chamber with the dimensions 5.3 m, 3.7m and 3.0 m. Since then, a detailed characterisation of the chamber as well as further investigations have been the main emphasis of the authors research. The submitted doctoral thesis presents the obtained results. With the design, the fundamentals of operation and further characterisation of the reverberation chamber, given in Chapter 1 and 2, it aims to give an introduction and better understanding of reverberation chambers. On this basis, the authors research focused on methods for determining the independent stirrer positions in reverberations chambers. The results of the investigations are presented and summarised in chapter 3. One scope of Electromagnetic Compatibility are radiated immunity measurements. Besides the GTEM cell and the anechoic chamber the reverberation chamber gains in importance as an alternative measurement environment. A reverberation chamber is a shielded room with reflecting walls and one or more integrated mechanical stirrers. By rotating the stirrer the spatial boundary conditions for the electromagnetic field quantities are altered. The resulting change of the spatial field distribution depends on the location within the chamber and the geometry of the stirrer. Each stirrer position yields an inhomogeneous field distribution created by interfering waves. A general aim is to find a set of stirrer positions, whose superimposed field distributions create a more uniform test field. In practice, the given requirements for the homogeneity of the test field shall, with regards to an optimisation of measurement time, be realized with a minimum number of stirrer positions. In this context the term ’independent stirrer positions’ was established and describes stirrer positions, whose field distributions are linearly uncorrelated and therefore assumed to be practical for creating a more homogeneous test field using only a minimal number of stirrer positions. A general method for determining the number of independent stirrer positions in reverberation chambers is presented. The method uses a certain number of measurement positions in a defined test volume in order to characterize the spatial field distribution inside the chamber. Using the Pearson correlation coefficient the field distributions of the stirrer positions are tested for linear correlation and pairs of independent stirrer positions are determined. On this basis, cliques of pairwise independent stirrer positions are identified using appropriate algorithms. It is shown that the general method yields detailed information about the number and distribution of the independent stirrer positions and is therefore particularly suitable to evaluate other methods. Finally, the standard method according to IEC 61000-4-21 as well as selected alternative methods, that have been proposed in the past, are evaluated and compared based on the results of the general method.

Wireless sensor network (WSN) has become a hot topic lately. By using WSN things that previously were difficult or impossible to measure has now become available. One of the main reasons using WSN for monitoring is to save money by cost optimization and/or increase safety by letting the user knowing the physical status of the monitored structure. This thesis considers four main topics, empirical testing of WSN in harsh environments, antenna designs, antenna measurements and radio environment emulation. The WSN has been tested in train environment for monitoring of ball bearings and inside jet engines to monitor strain of blades and temperatures. In total, two investigations have been performed aboard the train wagon and one in the jet engine. The trials have been successful and provide knowledge of the difficulties with practical WSN applications. The key issues for WSN are robust communication, energy management (including scavenging) and physical robustness. For the applications of WSN in harsh environments antennas has to be designed. In the thesis, two antennas has been designed, one for train environment and one for the receiver in the jet engine. In the train environment, a more isotropic radiation pattern is preferable; hence a small dual layered patch antenna is designed. The antenna is at the limit of being electrically small; hence slightly lower radiation efficiency is measured. For the WSN in the jet engine, a directive patch array is designed on an ultra-thin and flexible substrate. The thin substrate of the antenna causes rather lower radiation efficiency. But the antenna fulfils the requirements of being conformal and directive. In reverberation chambers are used to measure antennas, but there are difficulties to provide a realistic radio environment, for example outdoor or on-body. In this thesis, a large reverberation chamber is designed and verified. It enables measurement between 400 MHz and 3 GHz. Also, a sample selection method is designed to provide a post processing possibilities to emulate the radio environment inside the chamber. The method is to select samples from a data set that corresponds to a desired probability density function. The method presented in this thesis is extremely fast but the implementation of the method is left for future research. / WISENET / WiseJet

L'objectif de la thèse a été de mettre en place dans un premier temps des modèles analytiques et statistiques permettant d'évaluer les performances d'un système à retournement temporel de fortes-puissances puis de les vérifier grâce à des mesures.Des campagnes de mesures ont alors permis de vérifier les modèles. Des simulations numériques ont aussi montrées les possibilités offertes par un tel système.En parallèle, des travaux sur l'impact des antennes dans une chambre réverbérantes ont été menés afin d'évaluer les performances d'un système ayant plusieurs sorties.Les résultats de thèses ont permis l'élaboration de nouvelles métriques des performances du système.Le développement d'un prototype a nécessité la conception et la réalisation de chacune des branches du système complet.Les premières campagnes de mesures ont permis la validation complète des modèles. / A main aspect of this work has been to develop analytical and statistical models of the power efficiency of a time-reversal amplification system (TRAS).It is also important to evaluate the efficiency of a reverberation chamber. This allows quantifying the power received by one or more antenna when the reverberation chamber is excited. This factor is important when considering construction of the most efficient chamber for time-reversal amplification.Measurements assessing the loading effect of antennas in reverberation chambers when the field can be considered diffused were also undertaken. The study focuses on the evaluation of the varying quality factor when adding loaded antennas in the chamber.Another focus of this work is to evaluate the ratios between signals during calibration and focusing phase. An important aspect of the studies presented in this work thus concerns evaluation of the maximum value of the impulse response in a complex propagation system.We also present the power gain of time-reversal techniques and its statistical advantages compared to a classic use of a reverberation chamber.The development of a prototype required the design and implementation of each of the branches of the complete systems.The first measurement campaigns allowed the complete validation of the models.

RCs (Reverberation Chambers) has historically been used mainly for aerospace and military purposes in EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) testing, but the interest also seems to increase in the automotive industry (the development of an international standard for vehicles is in progress). The vehicles of the future will most likely be electrified, wirelessly connected and autonomous, i.e., more control units, more communication systems, and more sensors, will be implemented in the vehicles requiring increased robustness against all possible electromagnetic interferences. EMC testing in an RC is a step in the direction of ensuring this robustness for the future vehicle platforms. Compared to a traditional EMC test method in a fully or semi-AC (Anechoic Chamber), testing in an RC has the advantage that the electromagnetic field will be isotropic, randomly polarized and homogeneous in a statistical sense, i.e., the exposed object will be surrounded by electromagnetic energy from all directions. It can be considered relatively expensive to build a brand new RC with motorized stirrers and associated measurement instrumentation, instead it would be desirable to perform immunity tests in a more cost-effective conductive fabric tent. The great advantage is the flexibility, the tent can be set up almost anywhere, even in already existing semi-ACs, such set-up is referred to as VIRC (Vibrating Intrinsic Reverberation Chamber). This thesis aims to develop a new test method in a VIRC environment. In order to achieve good RC conditions, the electromagnetic field must be statistically Rayleigh distributed. Furthermore, it is of great importance to avoid LoS (Line of Sight) between the antenna and the test object, and to achieve good stirring in the tent. Provided this can be achieved, there are still some challenges by testing in a tent. For example, the classical dwell time of two seconds for immunity testing in EMC is not possible to achieve in a VIRC environment. The validation in this thesis shows that the dwell time or the total exposure time in the tent might be enough to trigger possible malfunctions in today's modern high-speed communication vehicles. Furthermore, it is showed, testing in a VIRC gives good field uniformity and repeatability, and can trigger malfunctions that are not triggered in traditional EMC testing in semi-AC, i.e., ALSE (Absorber-Lined Shielded Enclosure) testing.

Les tests de dispositifs de communication sans fil peuvent être réalisés en utilisant des simulations numériques ou des sondeurs de canaux. Bien que ne reflétant pas un environnement électromagnétique réaliste, une chambre réverbérante peut néanmoins émuler un canal de propagation comparable à un cas réel si l’on modifie convenablement ses propriétés. Les propriétés des signaux générés dans une chambre réverbérante sont fonction de différents paramètres. Au cours des trois années de thèse, nous avons analysé et mis en oeuvre plusieurs techniques pour mesurer et contrôler ces paramètres à l’intérieur d’une chambre réverbérante. D’abord, différents estimateurs du facteur K sont testés et leurs propriétés sont évaluées. Nous présentons les limites de fonctionnement utiles dans lesquelles différents estimateurspeuvent être utilisés. Ensuite, nous proposons deux nouveaux estimateurs qui utilisent comme données d’entrée seulement l’enveloppe du signal. Ils apportent en outre des améliorations sur la gamme des valeurs détectables du facteur K. Une des possibilités pour contrôler un canal de propagation à l’intérieur d’une chambre réverbérante est d’utiliser des matériaux absorbants. Nous présentons une méthode pour estimer la surface équivalente moyenne d’absorption en utilisant une seule antenne. Cette méthode exploite la mesure de la bande de cohérence du canal de propagation. Ensuite, nous étendons notre analyse à la prédiction de la surface équivalente moyenne d’absorption lorsqueles dimensions géométriques et les propriétés électromagnétiques des absorbants sont connues. On crée ensuite un modèle de canal de propagation en exploitant les régimes transitoire et permanent du signal. Avec ce modèle, selon les informations disponibles, on peut extraire le facteur K, la surface équivalente moyenne d’absorption et différents paramètres temporels (i.e., profil de l’étalement des retards). Nous poursuivons avec deux applications possibles des chambres réverbérantes. Tout d’abord, on évalue le gain d’une antenne à partir de mesures du coefficient de réflexion decette antenne. Nous étendons notre analyse à l’évaluation du diagramme de rayonnement de l’antenne et de son erreur d’estimation. Nous estimons aussi la désadaptation de l’antenne et son ouverture à 3 dB. La deuxième application porte sur l’évaluation du gain de diversité dans la chambre réverbérante. Nous isolons les influences des efficacités des antennes, des puissances des composantes brassées, et des facteurs K sur l’évaluation du gain de diversité.On obtient une relation simple de la corrélation de puissance en fonction de la corrélation complexe lorsque les facteurs K sur différents branches ne sont pas identiques. Nous montrons que lors d’un fort déséquilibre de facteur K il est impossible de conclure sur le gain de diversité à partir de la seule évaluation de la corrélation d’enveloppe ou de puissance. À l’aide de simulations statistiques on compare le gain de diversité mesuré avec les valeurs simulées. / The testing of wireless devices is generally done using numerical simulations or channel sounders. Though a reverberation chamber does not reflect a real transmission environment, its properties can also be appropriately modifiedto emulate one. This emulation may be achieved thanks to various parameters. Our PhD thesis has been devoted toanalyze and implement several techniques to measure and control these parameters inside reverberation chambers.First we evaluate different K-factor estimators and their capabilities. We present the useful limits in which severalcomplex, phase and envelope K-factor estimators can be used. Then, we propose two new envelope-based estimatorsimproving the useful range of detectable values of K-factor. One of the possibilities to control a propagation channel inside areverberation chamber is to use absorbing materials. We present a method to estimate the average absorbing crosssection by using only one antenna. This is done with measurements of coherence bandwidth of the channel. Then,we extend our analysis to predict the average absorbing cross section when we know the physical dimensions of aparallelepiped absorber as well its electromagnetic properties. Next, we create a model of the reverberation chamberpropagation channel using the transient regime and steady state of the signal. With this model, depending on the availableinformation, we can extract the K-factor, the average absorbing cross section and different time spreads parameters (i.e., mean delay spread and the root mean square delay spread). We continue with two possible applications of the reverberation chamber. First, we evaluate the gain of an antenna from only the measurement of reflection coefficient. We extend our analysis to the evaluation of antenna pattern and its estimation errors. We also estimate the antenna mismatch and half power beamwidth. The second application deals with the evaluation of the diversity gain in reverberation chamber. We isolate the effects on the diversity gain due to different antenna efficiencies, stirred powers and K-factors. Then, we estimate a simple relation of the power correlation as a function of the complex correlation when the K-factors on different branches are not identical. We show that using an envelope/power correlation as a criterion to characterize the diversity may bias the conclusions without taking into account other parameters. Using statistical simulations we compare the measured diversity gain with the simulated values.

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo avaliar o comportamento dos campos eletromagnéticos no interior de câmaras reverberantes de modos misturados através do método numérico TLM (Transmission Line Matrix). Inicialmente, apresenta-se uma descrição dos diversos tipos de câmaras aplicáveis na avaliação de desempenho de compatibilidade eletromagnética de equipamentos e sistemas elétricos, destacando-se suas principais características físicas e geométricas, com ênfase nas câmaras reverberantes. Os aspectos teóricos relacionados à descrição do método TLM são detalhados e sua aplicação na avaliação do ambiente eletromagnético das câmaras é então abordada. Diversos resultados são apresentados, considerando-se configurações pré-definidas de câmaras reverberantes, ressaltando-se a definição e cálculo de índices de mérito, bem como os principais aspectos relacionados à representação e definição de critérios adotados nas simulações destas. / The aim of this report is the evaluation of the behavior of electromagnetic fields inside reverberation chambers by means of Transmission Line Modeling (TLM). Initially, it is presented a description of several kinds of chambers applicable for electromagnetic compatibility tests followed by a more detailed description regarding reverberation chambers. Theoretical aspects of TLM method and its application for electromagnetic fields solution are covered. Some results are presented, considering pre-defined reverberation chambers configurations, highlighting some merit indicators and the main aspects adopted on its simulation.