A Comparative Study of Error Vector Magnitude Measurement in a Reverberation Chamber

Abstract

This letter shows a comparative analysis between the conventional and reverberation chamber (RC) measurements of error vector magnitude (EVM). The conventional methods, including direct link (DL) and anechoic chamber (AC), have been used to measure EVM for several years. However, the over-the-air testing of devices under test (DUT) is emphasized, and the EVM measurement in RC is a difficult question. For mass production testing, instead of using two chambers (RC and AC), it is expected to integrate EVM testing into the existing RC measurement system to give a pass/fail conclusion quickly. Hence, we measured EVM in 2 GHz (2412 MHz) and 5 GHz (5180 MHz) using RC, AC, and DL methods. From the measurement results, we find that the measured EVM is repeatable, stable, and insensitive to the location of DUT. Besides, the measured EVMs obtained from all scenarios deteriorate with the decrease of received power. Comparing the results from RC with that from the conventional methods, it could be concluded that with the reduction of multipath effect, the measured EVMs approach to the ideal values measured in AC. The differences among the methods could be used to calibrate the measured EVMs and give a pass/fail conclusion efficiently for mass production.