Optical Power Loss (Attenuation) - Part 1

• ​Light travelling in an optical fiber loses power over distance
• Loss of power depends on light wavelength (1310nm,1550nm, 850nm,1300nm)

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• Decibel (dB) is a unit of measured optical fiber loss 
• The fiber optics specification loss  is expressed in dB/km.
• The dB/km loss is multiplied by total length of fiber optics length in order to obtain total loss in dB.

Please check with fiber optic specification sheet as issued by fiber optics manufacturers

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• Optical fiber losses are categorised into extrinsic and intrinsic losses​
• Extrinsic losses are due to bending, splice and connector loss
• Intrinsic losses are due to fiber optics inherent loss, loss to fabrication and fresnel reflection