Number of Samples Required to Meet a Field Inhomogeneity Limit With Given Confidence in Reverberation Chambers

We derive equations to calculate the number of samples (tuner positions) required to achieve a certain inhomogeneity for the maximum of a rectangular field strength component with given confidence in reverberation chambers. Perfect and limited reverberation are investigated. The results are in good agreement with unreferenced values found in reverberation standards, e.g., IEC 61000-4-21. They can be used to a priori predict the required number of independent samples from the quality factor and the chamber volume only. Evidence is given that current homogeneity limits in standards (3 dB, IEC 61000-4-21) are inconsistent with the minimum number of samples to use (namely 12) at high frequencies.