Abstract

Many companies test insertion loss (IL) with a power meter and a source, as specified by the TIAⁱ and, from a practical standpoint, what can be simpler? Nothing, really; but beware, this practice presents certain risks. Although it may seem easy to maintain the typical 3 dB loss budget set by the network engineer, it is not always the case. In fact, blindly testing this way can have a significant impact on the loss budget.

© 2005 Optical Society of America