What is BS EN IEC 61300‑3‑55 about?
BS EN IEC 61300 is a series that discusses fibre optic interconnecting devices and passive components. BS EN IEC 61300‑3‑55 provides methods for measuring the polarization extinction ratio (PER) of single-mode, polarization-maintaining (PM) optical components based upon PM fibres.
BS EN IEC 61300‑3‑55 also provides methods for detecting the input and output orientation of the PM components' principal axes as well as methods for estimating the keying accuracy, i.e., the angular misalignment between the principal axes and the mechanical reference guide key of the connectors, if these are present.
Who is BS EN IEC 61300‑3‑55 for?
BS EN IEC 61300‑3‑55 on fibre optic interconnecting devices and passive components (polarization extinction ratio and keying accuracy) is useful for:
- Telecommunication companies
- Fibre optic manufacturers
- Fibre optic network component manufacturers
- Design engineers
Why should you use BS EN IEC 61300‑3‑55?
Fibre optic interconnecting devices and passive components establish a  point-to-multipoint topology in which a single optical fibre serves multiple endpoints by using unpowered (passive) fibre optic splitters to divide the fibre bandwidth among the endpoints. BS EN IEC 61300‑3‑55 provides a method to measure the polarization extinction ratio and keying accuracy of passive and active components. The polarisation extinction ratio is used to characterize the degree of polarization in a polarization-maintaining device or fibre.
The polarisation extinction ratio which is measured using BS EN IEC 61300‑3‑55 guidelines is defined as the ratio of the power in the principal polarization mode to the power in the orthogonal polarization mode after propagation through a device or system.
By measuring the polarization extinction ratios as discussed in BS EN IEC 61300‑3‑55, you can measure how well the fibre maintains polarisation.
