Chasing the Wave in a Reverberation Chamber

The power-delay profile is a critical characteristic of a reverberation chamber. In this paper the power-delay profile is used for the first time to study in high detail how a wave interacts with its environment in a reverberation chamber. This is done by tracking the wave, starting from its creation at the antenna reference plane with the antenna in multiple positions. Starting at the antenna port, three regimes are recognized: very-early-time, early - time and late-time. In the very -early - time the response is dictated by the antenna's behavior and placement affects only the duration of this regime. In the early-time period the wave starts interacting with the environment. Antenna positioning makes a clear difference during this period, and the moving-wall stirrer can easily be distinguished from non-moving parts. During late-time the expected exponential decay is observed. The transition point from early to late behavior is dependent on antenna placement in the room that was used. After chasing the wave traveling at light speed for a kilometer, it is finally caught when the chamber losses cause the power delay profile to decay into noise floor.