RF Chambers
25 RF-shielded chambers, programmable attenuation, and conductive-hybrid testbeds — the controlled environment behind every Novus wireless validation program.
Schedule a TestInfrastructure for Any Wireless Connectivity Challenge
Our RF lab pairs a fleet of 25 RF-shielded chambers with programmable attenuators, noise generators, and a deep instrumentation library. Together they create a fully controlled, fully repeatable RF environment for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread, Zigbee, and emerging wireless standards across the 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz bands.
Chambers are wired into automation infrastructure that drives traffic, sweeps attenuation, and captures throughput in real time. Engineers can move a single program from chamber to test home and back without re-instrumenting — the same scripts and the same metrics in both worlds.
- 25 RF-shielded chambers
- Programmable RF attenuators
- RF noise generators
- Wireless sniffers
- Spectrum analyzers
- Interop Device Library — thousands of 3rd-party clients & APs
Repeatable Performance Testing With the DUT Intact
Our hybrid testbeds couple a large RF-shielded chamber with inline programmable attenuation and automation infrastructure. The result is performance testing in an ideal environment with repeatable results — while keeping the device under test intact, with no need to bypass its antenna sub-system.
An RF enclosure houses the AP or gateway. Signal is piped into the chamber through an 8×8 Butler matrix into four 2.4 / 5 / 6 GHz antennas placed around a non-metal table at the center of the chamber. The DUT sits on the table; traffic flows from a server to the client via iPerf or IxChariot.
- RF-shielded chamber
- Programmable attenuator
- Butler matrix (8×8)
- 2.4 / 5 / 6 GHz RF antennas (×4)
- RF cables & connectors (varies by device)
- RF enclosure (Azimuth / Ramsey box)
- AP with RF connectors
- Traffic server
What We Run in the Chambers
Our Wi-Fi Client Acceptance Test Plan defines 13 standardized scenarios that exercise wireless devices end-to-end. Each scenario runs in the chamber, in a real test home, or both — with controlled iterations to surface deltas between configurations.
- Throughput vs. attenuation curve
- Identify maximum effective range
- Compare DUT vs. competitors
- Average throughput per channel
- 2.4 / 5 / 6 GHz coverage
- Bidirectional AP RX / TX
- a / b / g / n / ac / ax
- 20 / 40 / 80 / 160 MHz widths
- Mixed-mode comparison
- Stability at near / mid / far RSSI
- Chamber and OTA validation
- Spot drops and fluctuations
- Smooth roam between APs
- Failover roam scenarios
- Dual-AP attenuation control
- 20+ concurrent station load
- Mixed traffic profiles
- Day-long endurance runs
- Whole-home signal mapping
- Per-room RSSI capture
- Floorplan-overlaid output
- Sleep / hibernate transitions
- Auto-reconnect verification
- 2.4 / 5 / 6 GHz coverage
- 0 / 90 / 180 / 270° sweeps
- Per-band performance deltas
- Antenna pattern insights
- Platform-level coexistence
- Environmental interference
- Co-channel impact analysis
- Simultaneous multi-client traffic
- 11ac & 11ax capable DUTs
- Per-client throughput capture
- Popular APs — rotated regularly
- Multi-channel & multi-mode
- Pass / fail across security types
- 3rd-party AP interferer injection
- Configurable UDP congestion
- Combine with RvR or OTA tests
Chamber and Test Home, Same Workflow
The same iPerf-driven traffic profiles, attenuation sweeps, and result-capture scripts run inside the chambers and inside our residential test homes. That means the deltas you see between a controlled chamber run and a real home are signal — not noise from the test harness.
For programs that demand both, we co-schedule a chamber session and a test-home pass and stitch the data together. Engineers get the repeatability of the chamber and the realism of an occupied house without paying for the test plan twice.
Plan a Wireless Program
Ready to Run Your Wireless Program?
Talk to a Novus engineer about chamber availability, test-plan scoping, or a turnkey Wi-Fi acceptance program for your next product.