Photonics Dictionary

A device used to measure power loss in fiber optic connectors, cables or systems.

A channel for communication with the source in an otherwise unidirectional network, such as a channel that provides interactive features in a cable television network.

The simplest method of transmission on a local area network. The entire bandwidth of the cable is used to transmit a single unmodulated digital signal. Baseband transmission is capable of...

A breakout cable, also known as a fan-out cable or breakout assembly, is a type of cable that combines multiple individual cables into a single, larger cable. The breakout cable is designed to...

Camera Link HS (high speed) is a standard developed for high-speed digital data transmission in machine vision and industrial imaging applications. It is an evolution of the original Camera Link...

Focal, nodal or principal points of a lens. If the respective distances of the object and image are measured from the cardinal points, all thin-lens equations are applicable to thick lenses.

CoaXPress (CoaXPress or CXP) is a standardized digital interface and communication protocol used primarily in machine vision and industrial imaging applications. It enables high-speed data...

Hardware installed on fiber cable ends to provide cable attachment to a transmitter, receiver or other cable. Usually a device that can be connected and disconnected repeatedly.

The physical limit of an optical fiber or cable to withstand an applied force or weight perpendicular to the axis of the fiber.

A device used to delay transmission of a signal for functions such as memory loops, sequential processing or built-in testing. The delay can be achieved by coiling long lengths of coaxial cable or...

In a dual-ring local area network, a node that is connected both to the primary, active ring and also to a secondary ring that provides redundancy in case of cable or system failure.

A standard for fiber optic data transmission systems being developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and associated working groups that will make fiber optic components from...

A fiber optic cable assembly refers to a complete unit consisting of optical fibers, connectors, protective jackets, and other components that are assembled together to facilitate the transmission of...

A package for an optical fiber or fibers that may include cladding, buffering, strength members and an outer jacket.

A flexible single- or multifiber cable having a bundle of glass fibers arranged to transmit an image.

A fiber optic transceiver, often simply referred to as an "optical transceiver," is a device used in fiber optic communications to transmit and receive data over optical fibers. It integrates both a...

A material that surrounds a fiber optic cable's buffer tubes to prevent moisture from entering if the jacket is breached.

Free-space optics (FSO), also known as optical wireless communication or optical wireless networking, refers to the transmission of data using modulated beams of light through free space (air or a...

A cable assembly containing both optical fibers and copper electrical conductors in the same jacket.

E.I. duPont's trade name for a material used in the jacket of fiber optic cables. It is flame-retardant, thermally stable and resistant to oxidation, ozone and radiation.

The processing of an image or portion of an image by transform coding and analysis. Fourier, Hadamand, Kronecker and Eigenvector transforms are applicable to image transformation.

A thermosetting material used in the jacket of fiber optic cables.

The outer material that surrounds and protects the buffered and unbuffered fibers in an optical cable.

In an interlaced scanning electro-optical system such as television, the system resolution will be less than the number of active scan lines because of the random phase nature of the object being...

E.I. duPont's trade name for an aramid yarn used as a strength member in the jacket of fiber optic cable.

Pennwalt's trade name for polyvinylidene fluoride, a material used in the jacket of fiber optic cables where low smoke emission is deemed more important than flexibility.

Laser surgery refers to a medical procedure in which a laser, or focused beam of light, is used as a precision tool to cut, vaporize, coagulate, or otherwise modify tissues for therapeutic or...

In a fiber optic cable, the longitudinal length required for the transmission media, wrapped around a central member, to complete one helical wrap. Also called pitch.

Older fiber optic cable that may not be suitable for state-of-the-art applications and that is difficult for suppliers to sell.

In data communications, the instrumentation connecting two stations: transmitters, receivers and the cable that runs between them.

In fiber optic cable, containment of the fiber or fibers within an outer protective tube in which they can move to some extent. The interstices usually are filled with an insulating material. See...

In optical fiber, bends that are larger than microbends (see microbending), being visible. Generally they are caused by bending the cable beyond the specified bend radius. Light escaping at the bends...

A cable backbone used to interconnect local area networks at various sites (corporate offices and factories, for example) in a given region. Optical fiber is well-suited to the transmission of both...

In optical fiber, sharp but microscopic curvatures that create local axial displacements of a few microns and spatial wavelength displacements of a few millimeters. One frequent cause is longitudinal...

Mie scattering, named after the German physicist Gustav Mie, refers to the scattering of electromagnetic radiation (such as light) by spherical particles. Unlike Rayleigh scattering, which is...

A modulator is a device or component that modifies a carrier signal in order to encode information for transmission over a communication channel. The process of modulating involves varying one or...

A type of tubing used to protect optical fiber cables, consisting of a wire spiral of aluminum, galvanized steel or stainless steel, encased in a polyvinyl chloride or silicon rubber coating. These...

Fiber optic cable bearing many fibers independently sheathed and capable of carrying unrelated signals. They often surround a central strength member, and can be either loose- or tight-buffered. One...

A fiber optic connector or splice that mates two multifiber cables, optically aligning all of the individual fibers simultaneously.

The combination of two or more signals for transmission along a single wire, path or carrier. In most optical communication systems this is referred to as wavelength division multiplexing, in which...

A type of thermoset rubber used to jacket fiber optic cables, including those used in outdoor military installations.

A network interface card (NIC), also known as a network adapter or LAN adapter, is a hardware component that allows computers to connect to a local area network (LAN) and communicate with other...

The methods and techniques used to obtain medical photographs of the human eye. To photograph the exterior of the eye, conventional still photographic equipment and procedures are used. Similarly, in...