CONNECTORS / TERMINATIONS WITH FIBER GLOSSARY (2)

Bandwidth: The highest frequency that can be transmitted by an analog system. Also, the information-carrying capacity of a system (especially for digital systems). The range of frequencies within which a fiber optic waveguide or terminal device can transmit data or information.

Breakout Cable: A type of fiber optic cable containing several fibers, each with its own jacket and all of them surrounded by one common jacket. Breakout cables are designed for convenient installation of fiber optic connectors but tend to have high transmission losses due to bends in the fibers.

Buffer: Material that is used to protect an optical fiber or cable from physical damage and to provide mechanical isolation or protection. Fabrication techniques include tight jacket or loose tube buffering, as well as multiple buffer layers.

Buffer Tubes: A protective tubing used to protect exposed fiber. Commonly used in terminating multi-fiber cable or “fan-out” situations.

Chromatic Dispersion: Wavelength-dependent pulse spreading in optical fibers, measured in pico seconds (of pulse spreading) per nanometer (of source bandwidth) per kilometer (of fiber length). It is the sum of waveguide and material dispersion. Reduced fiber bandwidth caused by different wavelengths of light traveling at different speeds down the optical fiber. Chromatic dispersion occurs because the speed at which an optical pulse travels depends on its wavelength, a property inherent to all optical fiber. May be caused by material dispersion, waveguide dispersion and profile dispersion.

October 22, 2011

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