Testing Standards

IEC-60793-1-20

Measurement methods and test procedures: Fiber Geometry.

This part of IEC 60793 establishes uniform requirements for measuring the geometrical characteristics of uncoated optical fibers. – The geometrical characteristics of uncoated optical fibers are fundamental values and are necessary for carrying out subsequent procedures such as handling, splicing, connectorization, cabling and measurements.

IEC-60793-1-21

Measurement methods and test procedures: Coating Geometry.

This part of IEC 60793 establishes uniform requirements for measuring the coating geometry of optical fiber. – Coating geometry measurements are fundamental values that need to be known for subsequent procedures such as cabling, connectorization, splicing, handling and for making other measurements.

IEC-60793-1-22

Measurement methods and test procedures: Fiber length.

This part of IEC 60793 establishes uniform requirements for measuring the length of optical fiber. Fiber length measurements are fundamental values that need to be known for subsequent procedures such as cabling etc. and for making other measurements.

IEC-60793-1-34

Measurement methods and test procedures: Fiber Curl.

This part of IEC 60793 establishes uniform requirements for the mechanical characteristic fiber curl or latent curvature in uncoated optical fibers. Fiber curl has been identified as an important parameter for minimizing the splice loss of optical fibers when using passive alignment fusion splicers or active alignment mass fusion splicers.

IEC-60793-1-40

Measurement methods and test procedures: Attenuation.

This part of IEC 60793 establishes uniform requirements for measuring the Length and Attenuation of optical fiber, thereby assisting in the inspection of fibers and cables for commercial purposes. – Attenuation is a measure of the decreasing optical power in a fiber at a given wavelength. It depends on the nature, environment and length of the fiber.

IEC-60793-1-42

Measurement methods and test procedures: Chromatic Dispersion.

This part of IEC 60793 establishes uniform requirements for measuring the chromatic dispersion of optical fiber, thereby assisting in the inspection of fibers and cables for commercial purposes. Chromatic Dispersion is a parameter that without compensation, limits the maximum bit rate and distance over which a signal may be transmitted.

IEC-60793-1-43

Measurement methods and test procedures: Numerical Aperture.

This part of IEC 60793 establishes uniform requirements for measuring the Numerical Aperture of optical fiber, thereby assisting in the inspection of fibers and cables for commercial purposes. The numerical aperture (NA) of graded index multi mode fiber is an important parameter that describes a fibers light-gathering ability. NA is used to predict launching efficiency, joint loss at splices, and micro/macrobending performance.

IEC-60793-1-44

Measurement methods and test procedures: Cutoff Wavelength.

This part of IEC 60793 establishes uniform requirements for measuring the Cutoff Wavelength of optical fiber, thereby assisting in the inspection of fibers and cables for commercial purposes. Theoretical cutoff wavelength is the shortest wavelength at which only the fundamental mode can propagate in a single mode fiber, as computed from the refractive index profile of the fiber. In optical fibers, the change from multimode to single mode behaviour does not occur at an isolated wavelength but rather smoothly over a range of wavelengths. For purposes of determining fiber performance in a telecommunications network, theoretical cutoff wavelength is less useful than the lower value actually measured when the fiber is deployed.

IEC-60793-1-45

Measurement methods and test procedures: Mode Field Diameter.

This part of IEC 60793 establishes uniform requirements for measuring the Mode Field Diameter of optical fiber, thereby assisting in the inspection of fibers and cables for commercial purposes. The MFD represents a measure of the transverse extent of the electromagnetic field of intensity of the mode in cross section. It is defined from the far field intensity distribution as a ratio of integrals known as the Petermann ll definition.

IEC-60793-1-47

Measurement methods and test procedures: Macro Bending Loss.

This part of IEC 60793 establishes uniform requirements for measuring the macrobending loss of single mode fibers (category B) at 1550nm or 1625nm, category A1 multimode fibers at 850 nm or 1300 nm, and category A3 and A4 multimode fibers at 650nm, 850nm or 1300nm, thereby assisting in the inspection of fibers and cables for commercial purposes.

IEC-60793-1-48

Measurement methods and test procedures: Polarisation Mode Dispersion.

This part of IEC 60793 establishes uniform requirements for measuring the PMD of singlemode optical fiber, thereby assisting in the inspection of fibers and cables for commercial purposes. PMD causes an optical pulse to spread in the time domain. This dispersion could impair the performance of a telecommunications system. The effect can be related to differential phase and group velocities and corresponding arrival times δτ of different polarization components of the signal. For a sufficiently narrow band source, the effect can be related to a differential group delay (DGD), Δτ, between pairs of orthogonally polarized principal states of polarization (PSP) at a given wavelength. For broadband transmission, the delays bifurcate and result in an output pulse that is spread out in the time domain. In this case, the spreading can be related to the average of DGD values.

IEC-60793-2-50 (C5)

Measurement methods and test procedures: Hydrogen Aging.

This part of IEC 60793 cross referenced to IEC-60793-1-50, establishes uniform requirements for measuring the increase in attenuation of optical fiber when exposed to Hydrogen rich environments, thereby assisting in the certification of fibers and cables for commercial purposes. – Attenuation is a measure of the decreasing optical power in a fiber at a given wavelength. It depends on the nature, environment and length of the fiber, and in this instance, the wavelengths that are affected by the absorption of OH ions in the fiber

IEC-60794-1-2

Measurement methods and test procedures: Geometrical, Transmission, Material, Mechanical, Ageing (environmental exposure) and Climatic properties of optical fiber cables, and electrical requirements where appropriate.

IEC-TR-62284

Measurement methods and test procedures: Effective Area.

Effective area is an optical attribute that is specified for single mode fibers and used in system designs that may be affected by the non-linear refractive index coefficient, n2.

IEC-TR-62316

Measurement methods and test procedures: OTDR trace analysis.

ITU G650.1

Measurement methods and test procedures: Linear, Deterministic attributes of single-mode fiber and cable.

The standard covers measurement of MFD(Mode Field Diameter), Geometry (cladding diameter, core concentricity error and cladding non-circularity), Cut-off Wavelength – Attenuation and Chromatic Dispersion.

ITU G650.2

Measurement methods and test procedures: Statistical and Non-Linear related attributes of single mode fiber and cable.

The standard covers measurement of PMD, PMDq, DGDmax and Aeff in Singlemode Optical Fibers.