Glossary

A small alignment tube attached to the end of the fiber and used in connectors. These are made of stainless steel, aluminum, zirconia, or plastic. The ferrule is used to confine and align the stripped end of a fiber so that it can be positioned accurately.

A single, separate optical transmission element characterized by core and cladding. The fiber is the material that guides light or waveguides.

A gigabit interconnect technology that, through the 8B/10B encoding method, allows concurrent communications among workstations, mainframes, servers, data storage systems, and other peripherals using SCSI and IP protocols.

Occurs when there is misalignment in a mass or ribbon splicing joint. The fiber or fibers curl away from the joint to take up the slack or stress caused by misalignment of fiber lengths at the joint.

ANSI Standard X3T9.5, Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI)

Any fiber-optic connection system (cross-connect or interconnect) that uses fiber-optic jumpers and cables. See also horizontal distribution frame.

A testing device that displays the direction of travel of light within an optical fiber by introducing a macrobend and analyzing the light that escapes the fiber.

Used to visually inspect continuity in fiber systems and to inspect fiber connector end-faces for cleanliness and light quality.

The attenuation of light in an optical-fiber transmission.

The optical technology in which communication signals in the form of modulated light beams are transmitted over a glass or plastic fiber transmission medium. Fiber optics offers high bandwidth and protection from electromagnetic interference and radioactivity; it also has small space needs.

A rack or enclosure system designed to protect fiberoptic cables from excessive bending or impact.

Diagnostic equipment used for the testing, maintenance, restoration, and inspection of fiber systems. This equipment includes optical attenuation meters and optical time-domain reflectometers (OTDRs).

Indicates deployment of fiber-optic feeder and distribution facilities.

An active component that is installed in a fiber-optic transmission system that is designed to reduce the power in the optical signal. It is used to limit the optical power received by the photo detector to within the limits of the optical receiver.

Cable containing one or more optical fibers.