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Guidelines On What Loss To Expect When Testing Fiber Optic Cables For Insertion Loss With A Meter and Source or OLTS

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. The estimate, called a "loss budget" is calculated using typical component losses for each part of the cable plant - the fiber, splices and/or connectors. If the measured loss exceed the calculated loss by a significant amount (remembering the inherent uncertainty in all measurements), the system should be tested segment-by-segment to determine the cause of high loss.

FOA has a free app for smartphones and tablets that will calculate loss budgets for the cable plant you are designing or testing. See the app store for your device for details.

How to calculate a loss budget.

 

Connector Loss:

For each connector, figure 0.3 dB loss for most adhesive/polish connectors. The loss spec for prepolished/splice connectors will be higher (0.75 max per EIA/TIA 568)

When testing cable plants per OFSTP-14 (double ended), include connnectors on both ends of the cable. When testing per FOTP-171 (single ended), include only one connector - the one atached to the launch cable.

 

Splice Loss

For each splice, figure 0.3 dB (0.3 max per EIA/TIA 568)

 

Fiber Loss:

For multimode fiber, the loss is about 3 dB per km for 850 nm sources, 1 dB per km for 1300 nm. (3.5 and 1.5 dB/km max per EIA/TIA 568) This roughly translates into a loss of 0.1 dB per 100 feet (30 m) for 850 nm, 0.1 dB per 300 feet(100 m) for 1300 nm.

For singlemode fiber, the loss is about 0.5 dB per km for 1310 nm sources, 0.4 dB per km for 1550 nm. (1.0 dB/km for premises/0.5 dB/km at either wavelength for outside plant max per EIA/TIA 568)This roughly translates into a loss of 0.1 dB per 600 (200m) feet for 1310 nm, 0.1 dB per 750 feet (250m) for 1300 nm.

 

So for the estimated loss of a cable plant:

Calculate the approximate loss as:

 

(0.5 dB X # connectors) + (0.2 dB X# splices) + (fiber attenuation X the total length of cable)

 

For a better estimate, calculate a loss budget.

 

What about OTDR testing?

OTDRs are used for verifying indivudual events like splice loss on long links with inline splices or for troubleshooting. All standards require an insertion loss test for qualification of the link loss. In MM fibers, the OTDR will underestimate the loss considerably - as much as 3 dB in a 10 dB link - but the amount is unpredictable. In long distance SM links, the difference may be less, but there are other measurment uncertainties, like connector or splice loss, where the OTDR can show a gain. 

What happens when you test with an OTDR with its limited distance resolution? Specifically, if you have singlemode fiber terminated with fusion spliced pigtials, you cannot see the both splice and the connector losses. Or what if you have a patch panel with connections using short patchcords?
For insertion loss testing, you simply sum up all the loss contributors and get a total for the cable run. In the case of an OTDR, you are analyzing each event.
So if you have a connection point where both fibers were terminated with spliced-on pigtails, you should analyze the event as the sum of 2 fusion splices and one connection, not each individually. A patchcord termination would be two connection losses, plus splices if the termination was by splicing on pigtails.

For more on OTDRs, see the FOA Online Reference Guide on Testing or  Lennie Lightwave's Guide.

Will the network run on that link?

Here is a table showing the loss margin for most fiber optic LANs and links. If the loss of the cable plant is less than the maximum loss allowed for the link, it should run (but you really want a little bit of margin!)

(C) 2004-9 The Fiber Optic Association, Inc.

More detailed information can be found on the FOA Online Reference Guide.

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