Using Reverberation Techniques to Mimic Conducted Measurements of Integrated Wireless Devices

The separate characterization of RF circuitry, such as power amplifiers, low-noise-amplifiers, up- and down-converters, is in general well understood. As soon as an antenna is integrated together with the RFIC (eg antenna-in-package, antenna-on-chip), it is less straightforward to perform measurements that allow the engineer to draw conclusions on the RFIC because a clear reference plane is lacking. This presentation will explain the principles of a reverberation chamber and how these type of chambers can be used to characterize the active circuitry, while is it being connected to and loaded by an antenna. Measurement results will be shown that are being compared to reference measurements that are acquired using established conducted techniques.