Superposition effect of passive intermodulation for cable assemblies with discrete point-sources

In order to expand the cell coverage of wireless cellular systems, the number of passive components in wireless systems has been substantially increased. There can be many passive intermodulation (PIM) point-sources even in a device or a radio link, which may add up constructively or destructively. A modified point-source model with lossy components is proposed to evaluate the superposition effect of the forward and reflected PIM in case of series connection. The index of the series connection factor (SCF) is employed for systems that incorporate multiple PIM sources to predict the important characteristics of the cumulative PIM, such as the maximum and minimum values and the limit form. Furthermore, some initial experimental results are given out and the deviation in the above-mentioned prediction is also analyzed.