WG 1 - TC 86/SC 86C/WG 1

IEC 61280-1-4:2023 is available as IEC 61280-1-4:2023 RLV which contains the International Standard and its Redline version, showing all changes of the technical content compared to the previous edition.IEC 61280-1-4:2023 establishes the characterization process of the encircled flux measurement method of light sources intended to be used with multimode fibre. This document sets forth a procedure for the collection of two-dimensional fibre optic nearfield greyscale data and subsequent reduction to one-dimensional data expressed as a set of three sampled parametric functions of radius from the fibre’s optical centre. Estimation of the fibre core diameter is not an objective of this document. This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition published in 2009. This edition constitutes a technical revision. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
- improvement of calibration procedure and calibration traceability;
- improvement of fibre shaker description and requirements;
- addition of pulsed light sources;
- removal of a poorly traceable calibration process using a micro positioner.

IEC 61280-1-3:2021 is available as IEC 61280-1-3:2021 RLV which contains the International Standard and its Redline version, showing all changes of the technical content compared to the previous edition.
IEC 61280-1-3:2021 provides definitions and measurement procedures for several wavelength and spectral width properties of an optical spectrum associated with a fibre optic communication subsystem, an optical transmitter, or other light sources used in the operation or test of communication subsystems. This document also provides definitions and measurement procedures for side-mode suppression ratio and signal-to-source spontaneous emission ratio. The measurement is done for the purpose of system construction and/or maintenance. In the case of communication subsystem signals, the optical transmitter is typically under modulation. NOTE Different properties can be appropriate to different spectral types, such as continuous spectra characteristics of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), as well as multilongitudinal-mode (MLM), multitransverse-mode (MTM) and single-longitudinal mode (SLM) spectra, which are characteristic of laser diodes (LDs). This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition published in 2010. This edition constitutes a technical revision. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
- addition of measurement of signal-to-source spontaneous emission ratio in 8.9;
- change of document title to reflect the additional measurement;
- additional information on the resolution bandwidth used in the measurement of the side-mode suppression ratio in 8.8;
- use of a calibrated optical wavelength meter for accurate wavelength measurements of single-longitudinal mode lasers.

IEC 61280-2-8:2021 is available as IEC 61280-2-8:2021 RLV which contains the International Standard and its Redline version, showing all changes of the technical content compared to the previous edition.
IEC 61280-2-8:2021 specifies two main methods for the determination of low BER values by making accelerated measurements. These include the variable decision threshold method (Clause 5) and the variable optical threshold method (Clause 6). In addition, a third method, the sinusoidal interference method, is described in Annex B. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2003. This edition constitutes a technical revision. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
- correction of errors in Formula (8) in 5.5.2 and in a related formula in 5.5.3;
- correction of errors in the references to clauses, subclauses, figures, procedures, and in the Bibliography;
- alignment of the terms and definitions in 3.1 with those in IEC 61281-1.

IEC 61280-4-5:2020 is applicable to the measurement of attenuation and determination of polarity and length of installed multimode and single-mode optical fibre cabling plant, terminated with MPO connectors, using test equipment having an MPO interface. This cabling plant can include multimode or single-mode optical fibres, connectors, adapters, splices, and other passive devices. The cabling can be installed in a variety of environments including residential, commercial, industrial, and data centre premises, as well as outside plant environments. In this document, the optical fibres that are addressed include sub-categories A1-OMx, where x = 2, 3, 4 and 5 (50/125 μm) multimode optical fibres, as specified in IEC 60793-2-10, and category B-652 and B-657 (9/125 μm) single-mode optical fibres, as specified in IEC 60793-2-50. The attenuation measurements of the other multimode and single-mode categories can also be made using a light source and power meter (LSPM) or optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) utilising an internal or external optical switch having one MPO interface. Multimode measurements are made with an 850 nm source because transceivers used for parallel optics applications having an MPO interface only operate at 850 nm; 1 300 nm measurements are optional. Single-mode measurements are made with a 1 310 nm and/or 1 550 nm source because transceivers used for parallel optics applications having an MPO interface operate at these wavelengths. This document does not include descriptions of cabling that is not exclusively MPO to MPO.
The contents of the corrigendum of January 2022 have been included in this copy.

IEC 62614-1:2020 describes the launch condition requirements used for measuring multimode attenuation in passive components and in installed cable plants. In this document, the fibre types that are addressed include category A1-OMx, where x = 2, 3, 4 and 5 (50 µm/125 µm), and A1-OM1 (62,5 µm/125 µm) multimode fibres, as specified in IEC 60793-2-10. The nominal test wavelengths detailed are 850 nm and 1 300 nm. This document can be suitable for multimode attenuation measurements for other multimode categories and/or other wavelengths, but the source condition for other categories and wavelengths are not defined here. The purpose of these requirements is as follows:
- to ensure consistency of field measurements when different types of test equipment are used;
- to ensure consistency of factory measurements when different types of test equipment are used;
- to ensure consistency of field measurements when compared with factory measurements.
This document describes launch condition requirements for optical attenuation using sources with a controlled encircled flux (EF). This first edition cancels and replaces IEC 62614, published in 2010, and constitutes a technical revision. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to IEC 62614:
a) increase of the value of the uncertainty attenuation variation coefficient Y for 50 µm core fibre at 1 300 nm, due to launch conditions, to twice the previous value;
b) changes to 3.4, 5.6, including Table 5, and some references to remain consistent with IEC 61280-4-1:2019;
c) changes to multimode fibre references to be consistent with IEC 60793-2-10:2019.

IEC TR 61282-14:2019 is available as IEC TR 61282-14:2019 RLV which contains the International Standard and its Redline version, showing all changes of the technical content compared to the previous edition.
IEC TR 61282-14:2019 which is a Technical Report, establishes the detailed analysis and calculation of the uncertainties related to the measurement of the attenuation of both multimode and single mode optical fibre cabling using optical light sources and power meters. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2016. This edition constitutes a technical revision. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
- in the title: replacement of "guide" by "guidelines";
- text adaptation to allow both standard grade B and reference grade connectors for termination of test cords;
- addition of values needed for calculation of uncertainties, when standard grade connectors are used, to Annex D;
- correction of minor inconsistencies in Equation (18) and after.
Keywords: measurement uncertainty of the attenuation of fibre optic cabling

IEC TR 61282-5:2019 which is a Technical Report, describes various techniques for accommodation and compensation of chromatic dispersion in fibre optic communication systems. These techniques include dispersion compensation with passive optical components, advanced dispersion management, and electronic accommodation of dispersion in the transmitters and receivers. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition, published in 2002, and constitutes a technical revision. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
a) extends the application space for dispersion compensation and accommodation to communication systems that employ non-zero dispersion-shifted fibres;
b) adds a discussion on the suitability of fibre types for long-haul transmission of wavelength-multiplexed signals;
c) updates the dispersion coefficient limits for dispersion-unshifted fibres;
d) adds information on the dispersion coefficients of dispersion-shifted fibres;
e) updates the naming of the fibre types to the revised naming conventions defined in IEC 60793-2-50:2018;
f) updates Table 2 to include the dispersion tolerance of phase-shift-keyed modulation formats used for the transmission of 40 Gbit/s and 100 Gbit/s signals;
g) adds information on dispersion management in terrestrial and submarine communication systems;
h) extends the description of passive dispersion compensators based on fibre Bragg gratings and etalons;
i) adds information on electronic dispersion accommodation in coherent communication systems (including transmitters and receivers);
j) updates the description of optical accommodation techniques to include soliton transmission and mid-span spectral inversion;
k) extends the list of system parameters for passive dispersion compensators to include wavelength-dependent loss, phase ripple, and latency;
l) updates the description of dispersion compensator applications in long-haul communication systems.
Keywords: chromatic dispersion

IEC 61280-4-1: 2019 is applicable to the measurement of attenuation of installed optical fibre cabling plant using multimode optical fibre. This cabling plant can include multimode optical fibres, connectors, adapters, splices, and other passive devices. The cabling can be installed in a variety of environments including residential, commercial, industrial, and data centre premises, as well as outside plant environments. The test equipment used in this document has one single fibre connector interface or two single fibre connector interfaces. In this document, the optical fibres that are addressed include sub-categories A1-OMx, where x = 2, 3, 4 and 5 (50/125 μm) and A1-OM1 (62,5/125 μm) multimode optical fibres, as specified in IEC 60793-2-10. The attenuation measurements of the other multimode categories can be made using the approaches of this document, but the source conditions for the other categories have not been defined. This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition, published in 2009. This edition constitutes a technical revision. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
a) changes to Annex F on encircled flux to harmonise with IEC TR 62614-2, but keeping the encircled flux limits defined in Tables F.2 to F.5 unchanged;
b) addition of an equipment cord method in Annex D;
c) inclusion of testing bend insensitive multimode optical fibre;
d) updates to measurement uncertainty;
e) definition of additional cabling configurations;
f) changes to Table 5 on spectral requirements.
Keywords: measurement of attenuation
The contents of the corrigendum of April 2020 and December 2022 have been included in this copy.

IEC 61281-1:2017 is a generic specification for fibre optic communication subsystems (FOCSs). The parameters defined herein form a specifiable minimum set of specifications that are common to all fibre optic subsystems. Additional parameters can be used depending on the particular application and technology. Those additional parameters will be specified in the relevant documents, as appropriate. Each specified parameter is measured using one of the test procedures. The use of these parameters for system design is given in design guides. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 1999. This edition constitutes a technical revision. This edition includes the following significant technical change with respect to the previous edition: addition of new definitions.
Keywords: fibre optic communication subsystems (FOCSs)

IEC TR 61282-15:2017 provides guidance for the testing of multi-fibre cable, multimode or single-mode, terminated with plugs described in IEC 61754­7 (all parts) (multiple-fibre push on – MPO). Guidance is provided on the measurement of attenuation, polarity, length and optical return loss. The cabling can be installed in a variety of environments, including residential, commercial, industrial, and data centre premises, and possibly in outside plant environments.
Keywords: attenuation, polarity, length and optical return loss, MPO connectors, multi-fibre cable

IEC 61280-4-4:2017 provides uniform methods of measuring polarization mode dispersion (PMD) of single-mode installed links. An installed link is the optical path between transmitter and receiver, or a portion of that optical path. These measurements can be used to assess the suitability of a given link for high bit rate applications, or to provide insight on the relationships of various related transmission attributes. This document focuses on the measurement methods and requirements for measuring long lengths of installed cabling that can also include other optical elements, such as splices, connectors, amplifiers, chromatic dispersion compensating modules, dense wavelength division multiplexing or multiplexer (DWDM) components, multiplexers, wavelength selective switches, re-configurable optical add drop multiplexer (ROADMS). This document focuses on the apparatus, procedures, and calculations needed to complete measurements. IEC TR 61282-9 explains the theory behind the test methods. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2006. This second edition constitutes a technical revision. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
- theory is removed and replaced with a reference to IEC TR 61282-9;
- a new method, wavelength scanning OTDR and SOP analysis (WSOSA), is added as Annex G;
- a brief description of each method is added to Clause 5;
- Methods E and F are converted to informative Annexes E and F;
- a new Clause (6) on measurement configurations is added;
- a new Clause (7) on measurement considerations is added;
- Clause 10 on procedure is expanded;
- several of the apparatus diagrams are improved;
- several clarifications about what is measured and what is calculated have been made in Annex H.

IEC TR 61282-9:2016(E) which is a Technical Report, describes effects and theory of polarization mode dispersion (PMD) and provides guidance on PMD measurements. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2006. This second edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
- much of the theory has been condensed - focusing only on content that is needed to explain the test method;
- symbols have been removed, but abbreviations are retained;
- the material in the Clause 5 has been significantly reduced in an effort to avoid repeating what is already in the actual International Standards. Instead, the focus is on explaining the International Standards;
- measurement methods that are not found in International Standards have been removed;
- there are significant corrections to the modulation phase shift method, particularly in regard to the Mueller set technique;
- there are significant corrections to the polarization phase shift method;
- the proof of the GINTY interferometric method is presented. This proof also extends to the Fixed Analyser Cosine transfer technique;
- another Fixed Analyser method is suggested. This is based on the proof of the GINTY method and is called "spectral differentiation method";
- Clause 6 has been renamed "Limitations" and refocused on the limitations of the test methods. This Technical Report is not intended to be an engineering manual;
- the annexes have been removed;
- the bibliography has been much reduced in size;
- the introduction has been expanded to include some information on system impairments. Keywords: polarization mode dispersion (PMD)

IEC 61280-4-2: 2014 is applicable to the measurement of attenuation and optical return loss of installed optical fibre cable plant using single-mode fibre. This cable plant can include single-mode optical fibres, connectors, adapters, splices and other passive devices. The cabling may be installed in a variety of environments including residential, commercial, industrial and data centre premises, as well as outside plant environments. This standard may be applied to all single-mode fibre types including those designated by IEC 60793-2-50 as Class B fibres.The principles of this standard may be applied to cable plants containing branching devices (splitters) and at specific wavelength ranges in situations where passive wavelength selective components are deployed, such as WDMs, CWDM and DWDM devices. This standard is not intended to apply to cable plant that includes active devices such as fibre amplifiers or dynamic channel equalizers. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition, published in 1999, and constitutes a technical revision. The main changes with respect to the previous edition are listed below: revision of optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) measurements; addition of optical return loss (ORL) measurements; addition of informative annexes on measurement uncertainties, OTDR configuration, test cord attenuation verification and spectral attenuation measurement. Keywords: measurement of attenuation and optical return loss of installed optical fibre cable plant using single-mode fibre

IEC 61280-2-12:2014 defines the procedure for measuring eye diagrams and Q-factor of optical transmission (RZ and NRZ) signals using software triggering technique as shown in 4.1. Keywords: measuring eye diagrams and Q-factor of optical transmission (RZ and NRZ) signals, software triggering technique

IEC/TR 61282-13:2014 which is a technical report, presents general information about in-service measurements of polarization mode dispersion (PMD) and chromatic dispersion (CD) in fibre optic links. It describes the background and need for these measurements, the various methods and techniques developed thus far, and their possible implementations for practical applications. Key words: polarization mode dispersion (PMD), chromatic dispersion (CD), fibre optic links

IEC 61280-1-1:2013 applies to fibre optic general communication subsystems. The object of this part is to measure the optical power coupled from the output of a transmitter under test into single-mode optical fibre cable containing dispersion-unshifted fibre or dispersion-shifted fibre. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 1998. This second edition constitutes a technical revision. The significant technical change with respect to the previous edition is the inclusion of Annex A on how to account for uncertainties. There are editorial corrections throughout the document and updates to references. Keywords: measure the optical power coupled from the output of a transmitter under test into single-mode optical fibre cable containing dispersion-unshifted fibre or dispersion-shifted fibre

IEC 61280-2-2:2012 describes a test procedure to verify compliance with a predetermined waveform mask and to measure the eye pattern and waveform parameters such as rise time, fall time, modulation amplitude and extinction ratio. This fourth edition cancels and replaces the third edition published in 2008 and constitutes a technical revision .This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition: additional definitions; clarification of test procedures. Keywords: optical eye pattern, waveform, modulation amplitude, extinction ratio The contents of the corrigendum of February 2015 have been included in this copy.

IEC 61280-1-3:2010 provides definitions and measure procedures for several wavelength and spectral width properties of an optical spectrum associated with a fibre optic communication subsystem, an optical transmitter, or other light sources used in the operation or test of communication subsystems. The measurement is done for the purpose of system construction and/or maintenance. In the case of communication subsystem signals, the optical transmitter is typically under modulation. NOTE - Different properties may be appropriate to different spectral types, such as continuous spectra characteristic of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and multilongitudinal-mode (MLM), multitransverse-mode (MTM) and single-longitudinal mode (SLM) spectra, characteristic of laser diodes (LDs). This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 1998. This edition constitutes a technical revision with changes reflecting new laser technology and includes a second method modified for state of the art instrumentation. Keywords: definitions and measure procedures for several wavelength and spectral width properties of an optical spectrum, optical transmitter, test of communication subsystems

IEC 61280-2-1:2010 describes the test procedures applicable to digital fibre optic communication and data systems. The object of this test procedure is to measure the minimum and maximum optical powers required and allowed at the optical input port of a fibre optic system to ensure its operation within specified limits. Another objective is to verify that the guaranteed error performance is obtained at the minimum and the maximum optical input powers specified by the terminal equipment manufacturer. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition, published in 1998, and constitutes a technical revision. The main changes with respect to the previous edition are:
- revised to include the requirements associated with data communication equipment, regenerators and amplifiers;
- the term "jumper lead" has been replaced by "test cord";
- a section for definitions has been added;
- a section on measurement uncertainties has been added. This bilingual version (2015-12) corresponds to the monolingual English version, published in 2010-03. Keywords: digital fibre optic communication and data systems, optical input port

IEC 61280-1-4:2009 sets forth a standard procedure for the collection of two-dimensional fibre optic nearfield greyscale data and subsequent reduction to one-dimensional data expressed as a set of three sampled parametric functions of radius from the fibre's optical centre. This revision of IEC 61280-1-4 continues to fulfil its original purpose, characterization of transmission light sources, which enables the accurate mathematical prediction of minimum guaranteed link length in 1 gigabit per second or greater fibre optic data communication systems. New to this revision is support for improved measurement precision of insertion loss in multimode fibre optic links through the characterization of measurement light sources.

IEC 61280-2-3:2009 specifies methods for the measurement of the jitter and wander parameters associated with the transmission and handling of digital signals.

IEC 61280-4-1:2009 is applicable to the measurement of attenuation of installed fibre-optic cabling using multimode fibre, typically in lengths of up to 2 000 m. This cabling can include multimode fibres, connectors, adapters and splices. In this standard, the fibre types that are addressed include category A1a (50/125 µm) and A1b (62,5/125 µm) multimode fibres, as specified in IEC 60793-2-10. The attenuation measurements of the other multimode categories can be made, using the approaches of this standard, but the source conditions for the other categories have not been defined. The main changes with respect to the previous edition are:
- An additional measurement method based on optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) is documented, with guidance on best practice in using the OTDR and interpreting OTDR traces.
- The requirement for the sources used to measure multimode fibres is changed from one based on coupled power ratio (CPR) and mandrel requirement to one based on measurements of the near field at the output of the launching test cord.
- Highlighting the importance of, and giving guidance on, good measurement practices including cleaning and inspection of connector end faces.

IEC 61280-2-9:2009 provides a parameter definition and a test method for obtaining optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) using apparatus that measures the optical spectrum at a multichannel interface. Because noise measurement is made on an optical spectrum analyzer, the measured noise does not include source relative intensity noise (RIN) or receiver noise. Three implementations for an optical spectrum analyser (OSA) are discussed:
- a diffraction-grating-based OSA,
- a Michelson interferometer-based OSA,
- and a Fabry-Perot-based OSA.
This second addition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2002 and constitutes a technical revision. The main changes from the previous edition are as follows:
- A paragraph has been added to the Scope describing the limitations due to signal spectral width and wavelength filtering;
- and Annex B has been added to further explain error in measuring noise level due to signal spectral width and wavelength filtering.

This part of IEC 61282 provides definitions of dispersion penalty and other related penalties. It describes the direct measurement of these penalties using a BER test set and the calculation of the penalties from time-resolved chirp (TRC) data. Annex A provides the theory for power penalty calculations.

This technical report provides guidelines for the calculation of polarisation mode dispersion (PMD) in fibre optic systems. It accomodates the statistical variation of PMD and differential group delay (DGD) of optical fibre cables and optical components in an optical link. Example calculations are given, including concatenating individual optical fibre cables. The calculations describe first order PMD only.

This part of IEC 61280 defines the averaged Q-factor and provides a procedure to measure it by using amplitude histogram parameters such as the standard deviation and average level.

IEC 61280-2-8:2003 specifies two main methods for the determination of low BER values by making accelerated measurements. These include the variable decision threshold method (Clause 4) and the variable optical threshold method (Clause 5). In addition, a third method, the sinusoidal interference method, is described in Annex B. Key Words: BER values, variable decision threshold method, variable optical threshold method, sinusoidal interference method

Provides methods of representing the process statistics of the chromatic dispersion of optical fibres and related components that may be combined in a link. The presence of chromatic dispersion can induce distortions in signals leading to bit errors depending on; source spectral width; source chirp; bit period; distance. Has the status of a Technical report.

IEC 61757-1:2012 is a generic specification covering optical fibres, components and sub-assemblies as they pertain specifically to fibre optic sensing applications. It has been designed to be used as a common working and discussion tool by the vendor of components and subassemblies intended to be integrated in fibre optic sensors, as well as by designers, manufacturers and users of fibre optic sensors independent of any application or installation. The objective of this generic specification is to define, classify and provide the framework for specifying fibre optic sensors, and their specific components and subassemblies. The requirements of this standard apply to all related sectional, family, and detail specifications. Sectional specifications will contain requirements specific to sensors for particular quantities subject to measurement. Within each sectional specification, family and detail specifications contain requirements for a particular style or variant of a fibre optic sensor of that sectional specification. This edition includes a substantial technical update of all clauses, definitions, and cited references with respect to the previous edition.