DESIGN AND TESTING OF AN ANTENNA SYSTEM FOR THE SOURCE STIRRING TECHNIQUE IN REVERBERATION CHAMBERS

The paper describes the design and testing of a radiating structure developed to reverberate electromagnetic fields in shielded chambers. The radiating system consists of a set of conical broadband wire antennas, adapted to cover the operational frequency range of 1 to 3 GHz. Twenty antennas are used to build up the structure and field stirring is achieved by switching on 190 different combinations that generate field statistics and field uniformity quite similar to those of a mechanically stirred reverberation chamber (RC). All the measurements prescribed by standard and literature were carried out to test the stirring capabilities of the radiating structure, and to assess that the RC field fulfills the IEC 61000-4-21 requirements.