Most of our attention in a data link focuses on the cable plant, particularly minimizing the loss of the installed cable plant. However many fiber optic data links have too much power at the receiver, a consequence of having links designed for long distances being used at shorter distances.
In this video, we discuss the specifications for power in a data link, including power budgets, loss budgets and the receiver operating range and how that affects data link performance. We discuss how attenuators are used to reduce the power at the receiver to within its operating range and the types of attenuators available.