IEC 60793-1-46:2024

IEC 60793-1-46 ®
Edition 2.0 2024-06
COMMENTED VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Optical fibres –
Part 1-46: Measurement methods and test procedures – Monitoring of changes
in attenuation
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC
copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication, please contact the address below or
your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

IEC Secretariat Tel.: +41 22 919 02 11
3, rue de Varembé info@iec.ch
CH-1211 Geneva 20 www.iec.ch
Switzerland
About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigendum or an amendment might have been published.

IEC publications search - webstore.iec.ch/advsearchform IEC Products & Services Portal - products.iec.ch
The advanced search enables to find IEC publications by a
Discover our powerful search engine and read freely all the
variety of criteria (reference number, text, technical publications previews, graphical symbols and the glossary.
committee, …). It also gives information on projects, replaced With a subscription you will always have access to up to date
and withdrawn publications. content tailored to your needs.

IEC Just Published - webstore.iec.ch/justpublished
Electropedia - www.electropedia.org
Stay up to date on all new IEC publications. Just Published
The world's leading online dictionary on electrotechnology,
details all new publications released. Available online and
containing more than 22 500 terminological entries in English
once a month by email.
and French, with equivalent terms in 25 additional languages.

Also known as the International Electrotechnical Vocabulary
IEC Customer Service Centre - webstore.iec.ch/csc
(IEV) online.
If you wish to give us your feedback on this publication or

need further assistance, please contact the Customer Service
Centre: sales@iec.ch.
IEC 60793-1-46 ®
Edition 2.0 2024-06
COMMENTED VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Optical fibres –
Part 1-46: Measurement methods and test procedures – Monitoring of changes
in attenuation
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 33.180.10 ISBN 978-2-8322-9348-5
– 2 – IEC 60793-1-46:2024 CMV © IEC 2024
CONTENTS
FOREWORD .3
INTRODUCTION .6
1 Scope .7
2 Normative references .7
3 Terms and definitions .7
4 Reference test method .7
5 Apparatus .8
6 Sampling and specimens .8
6.1 Specimen Sample length .8
6.2 Specimen Sample end face .8
6.3 Specimen Sample preparation .8
6.4 Reference specimen sample .8
7 Procedure .8
8 Calculations .8
9 Results .8
9.1 Information to be provided with each measurement .8
9.2 Information available upon request .9
10 Specification information .9
Annex A (normative) Requirements specific to method A – Change in transmittance
attenuation by transmitted power . 10
A.1 Apparatus. 10
A.1.1 General . 10
A.1.2 Optical source . 10
A.1.3 Optical divider . 10
A.1.4 Optical detector . 10
A.1.5 Launch apparatus . 12
A.2 Procedure . 12
A.3 Calculations . 13
Annex B (normative) Requirements specific to method B – Change in transmittance
attenuation by backscattering . 14
B.1 Apparatus. 14
B.2 Procedure . 14
B.3 Calculations . 14
List of comments . 15

Figure A.1 – Measurement of change in optical transmittance attenuation using
reference specimen sample . 11
Figure A.2 – Measurement of change in optical transmittance attenuation using
stabilized source . 12

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
OPTICAL FIBRES –
Part 1-46: Measurement methods and test procedures –
Monitoring of changes in optical transmittance attenuation

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote international
co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To this end and
in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications, Technical Reports,
Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as "IEC Publication(s)"). Their
preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested in the subject dealt with
may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-governmental organizations liaising
with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely with the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence between
any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) IEC draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a)
patent(s). IEC takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in
respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, IEC had not received notice of (a) patent(s), which
may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent
the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at https://patents.iec.ch. IEC
shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This commented version (CMV) of the official standard IEC 60793-1-46:2024 edition 2.0
allows the user to identify the changes made to the previous IEC 60793-1-46:2001
edition 1.0. Furthermore, comments from IEC SC 86A experts are provided to explain the
reasons of the most relevant changes, or to clarify any part of the content.
A vertical bar appears in the margin wherever a change has been made. Additions are in
green text, deletions are in strikethrough red text. Experts' comments are identified by a
blue-background number. Mouse over a number to display a pop-up note with the
comment.
This publication contains the CMV and the official standard. The full list of comments is
available at the end of the CMV.

– 4 – IEC 60793-1-46:2024 CMV © IEC 2024
IEC 60793-1-46 has been prepared by subcommittee 86A: Fibres and cables, of IEC technical
committee 86: Fibre optics. It is an International Standard.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2001. This edition
constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous
edition:
a) inclusion of class C single mode intraconnection fibre;
b) replacement of 'optical transmittance' by 'attenuation'.
The text of this International Standard is based on the following documents:
Draft Report on voting
86A/2442/FDIS 86A/2475/RVD
Full information on the voting for its approval can be found in the report on voting indicated in
the above table.
The language used for the development of this International Standard is English.
This document was drafted in accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, and developed in
accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 and ISO/IEC Directives, IEC Supplement, available
at www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs. The main document types developed by IEC are
described in greater detail at www.iec.ch/publications.
IEC 60793-1-1 and IEC 60793-1-2 cover generic specifications.
IEC 60793-1-4X consists of the following parts, under the general title: Optical fibres:
– Part 1-40: Measurement methods and test procedures – Attenuation
– Part 1-41: Measurement methods and test procedures – Bandwidth
– Part 1-42: Measurement methods and test procedures – Chromatic dispersion
– Part 1-43: Measurement methods and test procedures – Numerical aperture
– Part 1-44: Measurement methods and test procedures – Cut-off wavelength
– Part 1-45: Measurement methods and test procedures – Mode field diameter
– Part 1-46: Measurement methods and test procedures – Monitoring of changes in
attenuation
– Part 1-47: Measurement methods and test procedures – Macrobending loss
– Part 1-48: Measurement methods and test procedures – Polarization mode dispersion
– Part 1-49: Measurement methods and test procedures – Differential mode delay
A list of all parts in the IEC 60793 series, published under the general title Optical fibres, can
be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decide
...