Glossary

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1000Base LX
Gigabit Ethernet transmitted over fiber using long wave laser transmitters
1000Base SX
Gigabit Ethernet transmitted over fiber using short wave laser transmitters
1000Base T
Gigabit Ethernet over twisted pair.
100Base FX
100 Mbps Fast Ethernet system based on 4B/5B signal encoding transmitted over fiber optic cable.
100Base T
Term used for the entire 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet system, including both twisted-pair and fiber optic media types.
10Base F
10 Mbps Ethernet system based on Manchester signal encoding transmitted over fiber optic cable.
10Base T
10 Mbps Ethernet system based on Manchester signal encoding transmitted over Category 3 or better twisted-pair cable
10Base2
10 Mbps Ethernet system based on Manchester signal encoding transmitted over thin coaxial cable. Also called Thin Wire and...
10Base5
10 Mbps Ethernet system based on Manchester signal encoding transmitted over thick coaxial cable. Also called Thick Net
10Gig Fiber Optic Patch Cord
Laser-optimized fiber supports 10 gigabit/second transmission distances of 300 meters or more and is roughly 3 times faster then...
38999
The 38999 is a cylindrical fiber optic connector for military applications. The 38999 is often used as an abbreviation...
48 Strand Fiber Optic Fiber
Strand fiber is a single strand of glass (optical fiber) used to send data in both directions. Working with...
802 1
IEEE Working Group for High Level Interfaces, Network Management, Inter-networking, and other issues common across LAN technologies
802 3
IEEE Working Group for Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Carrier Detect Local Area Networks.
802.3 Network
A 10 Mb/s CSMA/CD bus-based network
802.5 Network
A token-passing ring network operating at 4 Mb/s or 16 Mb/s.
8B10B Encoding
A signal modulation scheme in which eight bits are encoded in a 10-bit word to ensure that too many...
Abaxial Spherical Aberration
This type of aberration occurs when a patch of light is formed on points outside of the lens axis....
Abbe Condenser
This condenser consists of two lenses that collect and direct light onto a predetermined object. It can achieve high...
Abbe Constant
The ratio of an optical medium's refractivity to its dispersion. It is the reciprocal of dispersive power.
Abbe Illumination
A form of illumination where the source is imaged directly onto the object being viewed or projected. This requires...
Abbe Prism
A type of roof prism with perpendicular end faces that can invert an image when inserted between the object...
Abbe Refractometer
An optical instrument used to measure the of index of refraction of an unknown sample of optical glass. Designed...
Abbe Sine Condition
A condition that must be met by any spherically corrected lens if it is to be free from coma...
Abbe-Porro Prism
A compact version of the traditional Porro prism used in binoculars.
ABCD Matrix
Also known as a ray transfer matrix, this is a 2-by-2 matrix describing the effect of an optical element...
Aberration
A deviation from what is normal or expected. In optics, this could be a defect in a lens system...
Aberration Sensor
An optical instrument that can detect and measure aberrations via a knife-edge technique.
Ablation Threshold
An energy input level at which absorbed laser energy can break the bonds between molecules.
Ablative Photodecomposition
The process of pulsed ultraviolet radiation being absorbed by a material, leading to excitation within and between molecules. This...
Ablative Wall Flashlamp
A bright, short-lived source that occurs when low-pressure gas vaporizes material from the tube wall and leads to a...
Abney Effect
The hue shift that results when purity and saturation are varied.
Abrasion Mark
A mark on an optical surface produced by surfaces sliding against each other.
Abridged Spectrophotometer
An instrument that uses bandpass filters to measure transmission and reflection as a function of wavelength.
Absolute Refractive Index
The ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in the medium.
Absorb
The mechanism by which materials transform incident energy into internal energy (typically heat).
Absorbance
A measure of a medium's ability to absorb radiation, often expressed as the reciprocal logarithm of transmittance.
Absorbing Wedge
A strip of glass with transmission that varies linearly with distance, due to varying absorption.
Absorptance
Ratio of the absorbed radiant flux to the incident flux.
Absorption
The portion of energy (light) that is attenuated during propagation via energy exchange in the material.
Absorption Band
A region of the spectrum in which the absorption coefficient reaches a maximum. Also a range of electromagnetic radiation...
Absorption Coefficient
The measure of how far a wavelength's light can travel before being absorbed. Also the measure of a gas's...
Absorption Hologram
A hologram that results from the light of an illuminating beam being absorbed in correspondence with recording exposure.
Absorption Index
The measure of attenuation caused by absorbed energy per unit of distance in an electromagnetic wave.
Absorption Lens
A lens that inhibits certain wavelengths from passing through it by absorbing them.
Absorption Line
The most narrow range of radiant energy wavelengths that can be absorbed.
Absorption Meter
An instrument that uses a light-sensitive detector to measure how much light is transmitted by a material.
Absorption Peak
In the field of spectroscopy, the maximum wavelength of radiation that can be absorbed by a sample.
Absorption Spectrophotometer
An optical instrument that measures the absorption spectra of different specimens.
Absorption Spectroscopy
The study of energy and wavelengths of radiation that atoms and molecules absorb under varying physical conditions.
Absorption Spectrum
Also referred to as the spectral window of absorption, this spectrum is formed by radiation that has been filtered...
Accelerated Aging
The operation of a sample population of the lasers for an extended period of time under harsher conditions then...
Acceptance Angle
The largest launch angle of incident light that can propogate down the fiber optic
Acceptance Cone
The largest launch angle of incident light that can propogate down the fiber optic. The 3D view of the...
Acceptance Pattern
A curve expressing an optical fiber's total transmitted power as a function of its launch angle at the input.
Acousto Optic Modulators
A device that uses an electrical drive signal to control the power, frequency, and spatial direction of a laser...
Acousto Optic Tunable Filter
AOTF is an optical filter that can be tuned by altering the refractive index using acoustic waves in the...
Acousto Optics
The study of interactions between sound waves and light waves. Sound waves can be made to modulate, deflect and...
Acoustophotorefractive Effect
A semipermanent change in the Index of Refraction that results from the interaction between high-intensity, short-lived lase pulses and...
Acrylate
A polymer material, made of salt from acrylic acid, used in optical fibers as a buffer coating or cladding,...
Active Area
The area of a detector, relative to the total area of the detector, that generates signal.
Active Branching Device
A device that converts an optical input into two or more optical outputs with gain or generation.
Active Device
A device that requires an energy source to operate and has an output of present and past input signals....
Active Port Diameter
The diameter of the area on a detector where light can be coupled to or from an optical fiber....
Adjustable Attenuator
An attenuator in which the level of attenuation can be changed using an internal adjustment. Also known as a...
Aging
The operation of a sample population of lasers for an extended period of time under specified conditions.
Aligned Bundle
An assembly of fibers that have the same coordinates at both ends of the bundle. Also called a coherent...
Alignment Laser
A laser, usually employing helium-neon or other gases as the active medium, used for alignment in industrial applications.
Alignment Sensitivity
A laser's sensitivity in regards to misalignment.
All Dieletric Cable
A cable made of dielectric materials that doesn't contain metal conductors, armor, or strength members.
All Silica Fiber
A fiber, also known as all-glass fiber, with a silica core and silica cladding.
All Solid State Lasers
A laser with a solid gain medium and pump source.
Alpha
A positive number that indicates the Core Refractive Index shape and ranges from one to infinity.
Ambient Temperature
The average temperature of the air that comes in contact with testing instruments.
Angle of Incidence
The angle between an incident ray and the line perpendicular to it.
Angle of Refraction
The angle composed of a refracted ray and surface line.
Angled Physical Contact
A fiber optic connector with the minimum possible back reflection due to a 5°-15° angle on the connector tip.
Angstrom
A unit of length in optical measurements where 1Ã = 10-10 meters, or 10-4 micrometers, or = 10-1 nanometers....
Angular Misalignment
The difference of a shaft's slope compared to the other shaft's slope. Sometimes referred to as gap or face.
Angular Misalignment Loss
Optical power loss caused by angular deviation from the optimum alignment of source to fiber, fiber to fiber, or...
Angular Tilt
The angle formed by the axes of two fibers to be joined.
Annealing
The process of heating a cooling a solid material, such as glass, to stabilize thermal or electrical properties and...
Annealing Furnace
An oven designed to anneal glass for the optical industry.
Anti Reflection Coatings
A layer applies to the back of laser output mirrors to reduce unwanted reflections that interrupt power.
Antiguide
A waveguide with a core that has a lower refractive index than the cladding. This object can remove unwanted...
Aperature
The area of a fiber core that will accept light, also known as light acceptance.
Apertometer
An instrument that measures the numerical aperture of a lens
Aramid Yarn
The part of optical fiber cable that provides support, protection and tensile strength. Commonly referred to as Kevlar, which...
Architecture
The way that hardware or software is structured. Network architecture defines the functions and description of data formats and...
Argon Ion Lasers
Powerful gas lasers that generate multiple watts of optical power in an output beam.
ARINC
Aeronautical Radio Incorporated
Armadillo Cable Assembly
A ruggedized duplex fiber optic cable assembly featuring a rigid plastic connector shell and integrated strain relief boot.
Armadillo Loopback
A ruggedized fiber optic test adapter designed to loop a signal from the Tx side of a port to...
Armor
A component on a communication cable that is intended to protect internal components, including buffer tubes and electrical conductors,...
Artificial Intelligence
The ability of a machine to perform certain functions normally associated with human intelligence, such as judgment, pattern recognition,...
Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer
An instrument used to analyze the sharp resonance line of a sample that, in a flame, emits an atomic...
Attenuation
Power loss in an electrical or telecommunications system.
Attenuation Coefficient
The measure that determines how permeable a material is.
Attenuation Constant
The real part of the axial propagation constant for a particular mode.
Attenuation Limited Operation
The condition that occurs in a fiber optic link when the power of the received signal limits operation.
Attenuation Limited Power
The limitation on performance due to the amplitude of a received signal rather than a distortion.
Attenuation Meter
A device that measures power loss in fiber optic connectors, cables, or systems.
Attenuator
A device that induces loss in a fiber optic link, thus reducing signal power.
Automatic Optical Inspection
A system used to control or measure automatic industrial processes. It is composed of an optical module, a segmentation...
Average Power
The average amount of work done or energy transferred per unit time.
Average Wavelength
The mean of two wavelengths caused by the peak optical power dropping by half.
Axial Misalignment Loss
Optical power loss that is caused by two parallel fiber axes that are not on the same central axis.
Back Mounted Connector
Rear mounted – a connector with its mounting flange mounted inside of a panel or box.
Back Reflection Optical Return Loss
Light reflected from the cleaved or polished end of a fiber caused by the difference of refractive indices of...
Backbone
A transmission network that carries high speed telecommunications between locations. This is normally the main portion of a telecommunication...
Backbone Cabling
The inter-building and intra-building cable connections between entrance facilities, equipment rooms and telecommunications closets. Backbone cabling consists of the...
Backbone System
A transmission network that carries high-speed telecommunications between regions (e.g., a nationwide long-distance telephone system). Sometimes used to describe...
Backscattering
The scattering of light in a fiber back toward the source, used to make OTDR measurements.
Balun
An adapter for connecting an unbalanced coaxial transmission line to a balanced two-wire system.
Band Marking
A continuous circumferential band applied to a conductor at regular intervals for identification.
Band Spectral
An interval in the electromagnetic spectrum defined by two wavelengths, frequencies, or wave numbers. With Landsat, bands designate the...
Banding
Radiometric artifacts that affect all detectors in a spectral band, rather than the relative correction for striping of a...
Bandpass
The range of frequencies that will pass through a filter or other device. Synonymous with passband.
Bandpass Filter
A filter with a transmission that is high for a particular band of frequencies, but that falls to low...
Bandwidth
(1) The information carrying capacity of the system. In analog systems, this is also the highest frequency that can...
Bandwidth BW
The range of signal frequencies or bit rate within which a fiber optic component, link or network will operate.
Bandwidth Distance Product
Of an optical fiber, under specified launching and cabling conditions, at a specified wavelength, a figure of merit equal...
Bandwidth Limited Operation
In fiber optics, the limitation on performance imposed by the system bandwidth rather than the amplitude of the signal.
Bandwidth Limited Pulses
Pulses with a duration as short as possible with their optical spectrum.
Banner Advertisement
A typically rectangular advertisement on a web site placed above, below, or on the sides of the sites main...
Barrier Layer
In the fabrication of an optical fiber, a layer that can be used to create a boundary against OH-ion...
Baseband
The simplest method of transmission on a local area network. The entire bandwidth of the cable is used to...
Baud
The number of signal level transitions per second in digital data. The term is often confused with bits per...
Baud Rate
The speed in which computers can transfer data through a modem using communications software.
Bayonet Coupling
A quick coupling mechanism for mating a plug onto a receptacle utilizing three equally spaced pins protruding from the...
Beam Attenuator
A device designed to decrease flux density or power per unit area of a light beam through absorption and...
Beam Bender
A mirror used to manipulate the beam in a laser system.
Beam Combining
A class of techniques for power scaling of laser sources by combining the outputs of multiple devices.
Beam Diameter
The distance between two diametrically opposed points at which the irradiance is a specified fraction of the beam's peak...
Beam Divergence
The increase in beam diameter with increase of distance from the source.
Beam Expander
A system of optical components designed to increase the diameter of a radiation beam.
Beam Optics
A discipline within the broad study of optics that is specifically oriented toward the investigation of waves with small...
Beam Parameter Product
Product of the beam radius in a focus and the far-field beam divergence.
Beam Pointing Fluctuations
Fluctuations of the propagation direction of a laser beam.
Beam Profilers
Devices for measuring the intensity profile of a laser beam.
Beam Quality
A measure for how well a laser beam can be focused.
Beam Radius
A measure of the transverse extension of a light beam.
Beam Waist
Location with minimum beam radius.
Beat
The signal formed when two signals, such as light waves, of different frequencies are present simultaneously in a nonlinear...
Beat Length
A characteristic of optical fiber used to calculate the fiber's ability to maintain polarization. The beat length describes the...
Beat Note
An oscillation of the optical intensity arising from the superposition of light with different optical frequencies.
Beauty Defect
A defect on or in an optical element that does not appreciably impair the function of the surface.
Bel (B)
The logarithm to the base 10 of a power ratio, expressed as B = log10(P1/P2), where P1 and P2...
Bend Loss
1. A form of increased attenuation in a fiber that results from bending a fiber around a restrictive curvature (a...
Bend Radius
The radius of curvature that an optical fiber can bend without sustaining damage.
Bending of Light
The action occurring when light passes through an optical interface at other than normal incidence, i.e., refraction.
BER
Bit Error Rate. The number of bit errors that occur within the space of one second. This measurement is...
BER Bit Error Rate
Bit Error Rate. The number of bit errors that occur within the space of one second. This measurement is...
BER Floor
A limiting of the bit-error ratio (BER) in a digital fiber optic system as a function of received power...
Biconic
A connector type which has a taper sleeve which would be fixed to the fiber optic cable. When this...
Biconic Connector
A type of fiber optic connector consisting of two cone-shaped ferrules aligned by a mating sleeve.
Bidirectional
The ability for light to transmit in both directions through a fiber.
Bidirectional Reflectance
A unitless measure of the ratio of incoming to outgoing radiation created from converting a radiometrically calibrated image to...
Bifurcated Fiber
A branched fiber optic lightguide that performs both receiving and transmitting functions.
BIN Code
Basic identification number - color bands on the wire barrel end of a contact to identify contact part number....
Bit Error Rate (BER)
In digital applications it is the ratio of bits received in error to bits sent. BERs of 10-9 (one...
Bit Period (T)
The amount of time required to transmit a logical one or a logical zero.
Bit Rate
(1) The number of bits of data transmitted over a phone line per second. You can usually figure how...
Block
A collection of transmitted information which is seen as a discrete entity. Usually has its own address, control, routing...
BNC
Popular coax bayonet style connector, often used for baseband video.
Boot
A form placed onto the boot adapter used to environmentally seal and/or strain-relieve a cable assembly.
Boot Adapter
A mechanical device with one side threaded onto the accessory thread of a connector (plug or receptacle) and the...
Bound Mode
In an optical fiber, a mode that (a) has a field intensity that decays monotonically in the transverse direction...
BPS
Bits per second. Term used by telecommunication engineers to describe bandwidth. Bytes per second is the term used by...
Bragg Grating
A filter that separates light into many colors via Bragg's law. Generally refers to a fiber Bragg grating used...
Bragg Scattering
Scattering of light caused by a change in refractive index, as used in Fiber Bragg Gratings and Distributed Bragg...
Braid
An essential part of many fiber-optic cable designs, consisting of a layer of woven yarn. Note: In the case...
Break Out
To separate the individual fibers or buffer tubes of a fiber optic cable for the purpose of splicing or...
Break Out Cable
Same as a Fan Out cable. This is a multiple fiber optic cables constructed in the tight buffered design....
Break Out Kit
Used to build up the outer diameter of fiber cable for connecting.
Breakdown Voltage
In avalanche photodiodes, the point at which an increase in the reverse bias voltage causes the current gain to...
Breakout Cable
A type of fiber optic cable containing several fibers, each with its own jacket and all of them surrounded...
Buffer
(1) A protective coating applied directly on the fiber. (2) A temporary storage device or circuitry which retains data...
Buffer Coating
A protective layer, such as an acrylic polymer, applied over the fiber cladding for protective purposes.
Buffer Tube
A hard plastic tube, having an inside diameter several times that of a fiber, that holds one or more...
Buffered Fiber
Fiber optic cable protected with an additional material, usually hytrel or nylon, to provide ease in handling, connectorization and...
Buffering
It is used in two contexts: First, it refers to a protective material extruded directly on the fiber optic...
Bundle
(1) A group of optical fibers or electrical conductors, such as wires and coaxial cables, usually in a single...
Bundle of Fibers
A rigid or flexible group of fibers assembled in a unit. Coherent fiber bundles have fibers arranged in the...
Burn
A surface imperfection caused by a polisher running dry too long. It occurs with felt or plastic polishers, and...
Butt Splice
A joining of two fibers without optical connectors arranged end-to-end by means of a coupling. Fusion splicing is an...
C
Centigrade
C Band
(1) A range of wavelengths from 1530 to 1565 nm. In this region, erbium-doped amplifiers (EDFAs) have highest gain....
Cable
One or more fibers enclosed in protective coverings and strength members.
Cable Assembly
An optical fiber cable that has connectors installed on one or both ends.
Cable Bend Radius
Cable bend radius during installation infers that the cable is experiencing a tensile load. Free bend infers a lower allowable...
Cable Clamp
A mechanical device attached to the accessory threads at the rear of a plug or receptacle to support the...
Cable Modem
A modem (q.v.) designed to operate over cable-TV lines rather than phone lines.
Cable Signal Leakage
Excessive levels of radio frequency (RF) energy that leak from cable television systems. Leak can cause interference to com-munications...
Cables
(1) One or more fibers enclosed in protective coverings and strength members. (2) A group of individually insulated conductors...
Cache
an area of disk space which stores the text and graphics of a viewed web page. When the web...
Calibration
The adjustment or systematic standardization of the output of a quantitative measuring instrument or sensor.
Calibration Data
In remote sensing, measurements pertaining to the spectral or geometric characteristics of a sensor or radiation source. Calibration data...
Calibration Lamps
Lamps carried into orbit on imaging sensors for the purpose of measuring the responsivity of reflective band detectors as...
Calibration Parameter File
Computer files of fixed parameters used in the ground processing system to convert raw uncalibrated bits from a spacecraft...
Carrier Frequency
The electromagnetic wave frequency selected to transmit information. Optical carrier frequency is from the infrared, visible or ultraviolet spectrum areas...
Catastrophic Failure
A failure in which the device characteristics change suddenly, generally in less than a second.
Catastrophic Optical Damage
Catastrophic optical damage occurs when the semiconductor in the emission region is melted and recrystallized.
Center Wavelength (Laser)
1. The nominal value central operating wavelength defined by a peak mode measurement where the effective optical power resides. 2....
Center Wavelength (LED)
1. The average of the two wavelengths measured at the half amplitude points of the power spectrum. 2. The wavelength...
Centro Symmetrical Reflective Optics
An optical technique in which a concave mirror is used to control coupling of light from one fiber optic...
Certificate of Compliance C of C
A certificate showing that the product being shipped meets customer's specifications.
Chalcogenide Glass
An infrared-transmitting material used in optical fibers for applications in the wavelength region from 2 to 11 µm.
Channel
(1) A communications path or the signal sent over a channel. Through multiplexing several channels, voice channels can be...
Channel Capacity
Maximum number of channels that a cable system can carry simultaneously.
Channel Coding
Data encoding and error correction techniques used to protect the integrity of data. Typically used in channels with high...
Channel Density
The number of channels per unit bandwidth handled by a single optical fiber.
Channel Markers
A/B markers easily identify the TX and RX connector on each end of a fiber optic cable assembly. These...
Channel Spacing
The amount of bandwidth allocated per channel.
Channel Substrate Planar Growth
The creation of a diode laser structure by liquid-phase epitaxy over a grooved substrate.
Chromatic Bandwidth
The inverse of the Chromatic Dispersion.
Chromatic Dispersion
The temporal spreading of a pulse in an optical waveguide caused by the wavelength dependence of the velocities of...
Churn
The term used to describe turnover rate of subscribers to a service or product.
Cladding
The low-refractive-index material that surrounds the core of an optical fiber to contain core light while protecting against surface...
Cladding Diameter
In the cross section of a realizable optical fiber, ideally circular, but in practice assumed to a first approximation...
Cladding Glass
The glass that is found around the glass core of a fiber, and that has a lower refractive index...
Cladding Mode
An undesired mode that is confined to the cladding of an optical fiber by virtue of the fact that...
Cladding Mode Stripper
A mechanism or device, especially a coating with a refractive index equal to or slightly greater that that of...
Cladding Ray
A ray that is reflected into the core of an optical fiber from the outer surface of the cladding.
Cleave
The process of scoring and breaking the optical fiber end in order to terminate a connector. Also known as...