By J. E. "Ed" Mitchell, Jerrold/Century III Division, General Instrument Corporation
Consistent throughout the evolutionary development of the electronic equipment, which is used in cable television distribution systems, has been the villan referred to as "The System Limiting Distortion". As system bandwidth has increased, the distortion form that has limited system performance has changed. Cross modulation controlled performance in the early years; composite triple beat ruled until recently; now that distribution system bandwidth has continued to expand composite second order distortion threatens to limit system design flexibility.
Therefore, the objectives of this paper are to provide an introduction and a comprehensive analysis of composite second order distortion. An in depth analysis as well as empirical measurement data are offered.