SP6160 - PIM/VSWR Certification

Online Self Paced Training:

The incidence and cost of PIM is no longer simply a nuisance, it is a critical threat to network efficiency, channel capacity and bottom line profit.

This course is aimed at anyone who is involved in the designing and installation of wireless cellular infrastructures. The course details the importance of Passive Intermodulation (PIM) and Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) as well as how to measure and mitigate it. Students successfully completing this course will be recognized as certified in these two topics, which are fundamental to the wireless industry.

The objectives of this course are:

• Understanding the fundamental parameters important to wireless infrastructures, including VSWR and PIM
• Understand methods for testing and troubleshooting RF systems
• Explore the equipment used and potential areas to consider when testing a site
• Understanding PIM, its effects, and measurement
• Know some of the test equipment available and how to conduct PIM testing
• List considerations for ensuring good PIM performance for different components in an RF system

 Course Overview

• Lesson 1 - Passive Intermodulation (PIM) and Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) fundamentals. This lesson will help you to understand the fundamental parameters important to wireless infrastructures, including VSWR and PIM. It will cover what to look out for when testing and troubleshooting a system and how to help prevent PIM and other detrimental signal issues from occurring.
• Lesson 2 - Line Sweep Testing. In this lesson, we will take a closer look at the testing and troubleshooting of an RF system.
• Lesson 3 - VSWR Test Equipment and Operation. In this lesson, we explore the potential areas to consider when testing a site and also take a look at the equipment used.
• Lesson 4 - PIM Measurement. PIM has become a hot topic with wireless carriers. While PIM has been known and studied for many decades, wireless carriers have traditionally limited their PIM testing to labs. The more recent introduction of portable test equipment targeted at resolving PIM issues in the field has extended the topic to a much broader audience, including thousands of field operations personnel tasked with maintaining wireless networks. Carrier networks are aging and the ability to find PIM problems related to this aging is important. Installation, hardware quality, and hardware design also play an important role in determining PIM performance. The continual roll-out of new technologies, and new hardware, into wireless networks makes PIM testing in the field a perfect candidate for ensuring a high quality of service.
• Lesson 5 - PIM Test Equipment and Operation. Production PIM test equipment was introduced in the 1990s to enable RF equipment manufacturers to verify the PIM performance of their products. More recently, portable PIM test equipment was introduced giving network operators the ability to perform PIM tests in the field. These field tests have proven effective at identifying components damaged in transport as well as installation workmanship issues on the RF infrastructure. As a result, field PIM testing has been increasingly adopted by wireless operators around the world as an essential test to certify optimum system performance.
• Lesson 6 - RF Component Consideration. In this lesson, we will look at the considerations to ensure good PIM performance for different components in an RF system.

Downloads include the PIM and VSWR calculator and numerous additional support documentation.

BICSI CEC's: RCDD 2, Inst 2, Tech 2, WD 2

Certificate valid for 3 years