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What Are Fiber Optic Attenuators?
By Colin Yao
Why Do We Need Fiber Optic Attenuators?
A fiber optic attenuator, also called an optical attenuator, simulates the loss the
would be caused by a long length of fiber. Typically, this device performs receiver
testing. While an optical attenuator can simulate the optical loss of a long length of
fiber, it cannot accurately simulate the dispersion that would be caused by a long length
of fiber.
Put it simply, for a fiber optic receiver, too much light can overload it and degrade
the bit error ratio. In order to achieve the best bit error ratio (BER), the light power
must be reduced. Fiber optic attenuators fit the requirement perfectly. This can happen
when the transmitter delivers too much power such as when the transmitter is too close to
the receiver.
What Is a Fiber Attenuator and How Does It Work?
Attenuators are like your sunglasses, which absorbs the extra light energy and protect
your eyes from being dazzled. Attenuators typically have a working wavelength range in
which they absorb the light energy equally.
An important characteristic of a good fiber attenuator is that they should not reflect
the light, instead, they should absorb the extra light without being damaged. Since the
light power used in fiber optic communications are fairly low, they usually can be
absorbed without noticeable damage to the attenuator itself.
Types of Attenuators
Two types of fiber optic attenuators exist: fixed value attenuators and variable attenuators.
Fixed Value Attenuators
Fixed value attenuators have fixed values that are specified in decibels. Their
applications include telecommunication networks, optical fiber test facility, Local Area
Network(LAN) and CATV systems.
For example, a -3dB attenuator should reduce intensity of the output by 3 dB(50 percent).
Fixed value attenuator's attenuation value cannot be varied. The attenuation is
expressed in dB. The operating wavelength for optical attenuators should be specified for
the rated attenuation, because optical attenuation of a material varies with wavelength.
Fixed value attenuators are composed of two big groups: In-line type and connector
type. In-line type looks like a plain fiber patch cable; it has a fiber cable terminated
with two connectors which you can specify types.
Connector type attenuator looks like a bulk head fiber connector, it has a male end and
a female end. It mates to regular connectors of the same type such as FC, ST, SC and LC.
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