Evaluation and Comparison of PIM Measurement Uncertainty using Different Methods

In this paper, simple methods are proposed for throughout determination of the individual contributions to the uncertainty budget. The power level uncertainty of the two carriers is considered individually and additional uncertainty contributors, namely the drift uncertainty and the connector repeatability, are evaluated. The uncertainty budgets calculated using these two methods are then compared with the uncertainty budget calculated using IEC 62037-1. It is found that the PIM level has a different dependency on each carrier power uncertainty, which results in different contributions from the two carriers to the uncertainty budget. Also, the drift uncertainty is identified as a significant contributor to the uncertainty budget