scope:

This part of IEC 61280 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.