Dictionary of Electrical Engineering

Commonly used terms in the Electrical industry.

optical fiber signal distortion
a change in the temporal shape of an optical signal transmitted through an optical fiber caused by a combination of wavelength effects (dispersion) and multimode and polarization effects. The wavelength effects include material dispersion, profile dispersion, and waveguide dispersion. The multi-mode effects cause distortion by the differential time delays between the various modes propagating in a multimode fiber. The polarization effect causes distortion by the differential time delay between the two polarizations of a single mode.