| Attenuation: |
Loss of signal power. Attenuation is typically measured in decibels per kilometer (dB/km) at a specific wavelength. |
| Bandwidth: |
Potential information carrying capacity, the amount of information that can be sent over a communication channel, increases with the frequency. |
| Bend Radius: |
Radius a fiber can bend before the risk of breakage or increase in attenuation. |
| Buffering: |
A protective material extruded directly on the fiber coating to protect it from the environment. |
| Cable Assembly: |
Fiber Optic cable that has connectors on one or both ends. |
| Cladding: |
The material surrounding the core of an optical waveguide. The cladding should have a lower index of refraction in order to steer the light in the core. |
| Coating: |
A material put over the cladding, during the drawing process, to protect the fiber from the environment. |
| Core: |
The central region of a fiber through which light is transmitted. |
| Decibal (dB): |
The unit for measuring the relative strength of a signal. |
| Dispersion: |
The spreading of light pulses as they travel down the fiber. |
| Fresnal Reflection Losses: |
Reflection losses incurred at input and output of optical elements due to the difference in refractive index between glass and the immersion medium. |
| Graded Index Fiber: |
Fiber design of optical fiber having a core refractive index that decreases almost parabolically and radially outward toward the cladding. |
| Index of Refraction: |
The ratio of light velocity in a vacuum to its velocity in a given transmitting medium. |
| Jumper Assembly: |
A cable assembly with connectors attached on both ends. |
| Micron (pm): |
Micrometer; one millonth of a meter. |
| Mode: |
A term used to describe a light path through a fiber. |
| Modulation: |
Coding of information onto the carrier frequency. This includes amplitude, frequency, or phase. |
| Multimode Fiber: |
An optical waveguide in which light travels in multiple modes. |
| Numerical Aparture: |
The number that expresses the light gathering power of a fiber. |
| Pigtail: |
A cable assembly with connectors at one end. |
| Scattering: |
A property of glass which causes light to deflect from the fiber and contributes to losses. |
| Singlemode Fiber: |
An optical waveguide in which only the lowest-order bound mode, which may consist of a pair of orthogonally polarized fields, can optical propagate at the wavelength of interest. |
| Step-Index Fiber: |
Optical Fiber which has an abrupt change in its refractive index, due to a core and cladding that have different indices of refraction. Typically used for singlemode. |
| Tight Buffer: |
A type of cable construction where each fiber is lightly buffered by a protective thermo-plastic coating to a diameter of 900pms. |
| Wavelength: |
The distance between crests of a waveform. |
