Fiber Cable Power Loss

Guidelines on what loss to expect when testing fiber optic cables to be able to judge whether a fiber optic cable plant is good one does a insertion loss test with a light source and power meter and compares that to an estimate of what is a reasonable loss for that cable plant.

Fiber cable power loss.

Lightpost enlightening general news and research blog. Power budgets and loss budgets the terms power budget and loss budget are often confused the power budget refers to the amount of fiber optic cable plant loss that a datalink transmitter to receiver can tolerate in order to operate properly. Optical fiber is a fantastic medium for propagating light signals and it rarely needs amplification in contrast to copper cables high quality single mode fiber will often exhibit attenuation loss of power as low as 0 1db per kilometer. The fiber strand manufacturer provides a loss factor in terms of db per kilometer.

The loss of power in light in an optical fiber is measured in decibels db. Power or strength of the signal measured in db will always be higher at the head end or central office of the network connection than at the customer end. This allows long distances to be spanned with few repeaters. By using a clip on detector such as used in fiber identifiers or fusion splicer lid local injection and detection systems the induced loss can be measured.

Distance in this case the total length of the fiber cable not just the map distance. Fiber loss factor fiber loss generally has the greatest impact on overall system performance. This test requires a special testing kit and protective eyewear but it will help you diagnose problems with the cable s connectivity power and reliability. Inside look enewsletters and blog.

The estimate called a loss budget is calculated using typical component losses for each part of the cable plant. While there are many different fiber optic cable tests the most common version is an insertion loss test also known as an attenuation jumper or connectivity test. This value is multiplied by the total length of the optical fiber in kilometers to determine the fiber s total loss in db. Fiber optic cable specifications express cable loss as attenuation per 1 km length as db km.

Since one can induce loss in the fiber or cable by bending it this lost power can be measured. It is especially advantageous for long distance communications because infrared light propagates through the fiber with much lower attenuation compared to electricity in electrical cables. A total fiber loss calculation is made based on the distance x the loss factor.