IEC 61291-1:2012

IEC 61291-1 ®
Edition 3.0 2012-04
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Optical amplifiers –
Part 1: Generic Specification
Amplificateurs optiques –
Partie 1: Spécification générique

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IEC 61291-1 ®
Edition 3.0 2012-04
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Optical amplifiers –
Part 1: Generic Specification
Amplificateurs optiques –
Partie 1: Spécification générique

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
PRICE CODE
INTERNATIONALE
V
CODE PRIX
ICS 33.180.20 ISBN 978-2-8322-0074-2

– 2 – 61291-1 © IEC:2012
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3

1 Scope and object . 5

2 Normative references . 5

3 Terms, definitions and abbreviations . 6

3.1 Overview . 6

3.2 Terms and definitions . 8

3.2.1 OA devices and distributed amplifiers . 8

3.2.2 OA-assemblies . 20
3.3 Abbreviated terms . 23
4 Classification . 24
5 Requirements . 25
5.1 Preferred values . 25
5.2 Sampling . 25
5.3 Product identification for storage and shipping . 25
5.3.1 Marking . 25
5.3.2 Labelling. 25
5.3.3 Packaging . 25
6 Quality assessment . 25
7 Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements . 25
8 Test methods . 26
Bibliography . 27
Index of definitions . 28

Figure 1 – OA device and assemblies . 7
Figure 2 – Optical amplifier in a multichannel application . 8

Table 1 – Grouping of parameters and corresponding test methods or references . 26

61291-1 © IEC:2012 – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION

____________
OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS –
Part 1: Generic Specification
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
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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
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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) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
International Standard IEC 61291-1 has been prepared by subcommittee 86C: Fibre optic

systems and active devices, of IEC technical committee 86: Fibre optics.
This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition published in 2006. It is a technical
revision that includes the following significant changes: the definitions related to transient
behaviour have been extensively updated with terms from the 61290-4 series and the
definition for gain ripple has been added.
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
CDV Report on voting
86C/1013/CDV 86C/1041/RVC
Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.

– 4 – 61291-1 © IEC:2012
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

A list of all the parts in the IEC 61291 series, published under the general title Optical

amplifiers, can be found on the IEC website.

The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until

the stability date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data

related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be

• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
61291-1 © IEC:2012 – 5 –
OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS –
Part 1: Generic Specification
1 Scope and object
This part of IEC 61291 applies to all commercially available optical amplifiers (OAs) and

optically amplified assemblies. It applies to OAs using optically pumped fibres (OFAs based
either on rare-earth doped fibres or on the Raman effect), semiconductors (SOAs), and
waveguides (POWAs). The object of this standard is:
– to establish uniform requirements for transmission, operation, reliability and environmental
properties of OAs;
– to provide assistance to the purchaser in the selection of consistently high-quality OA
products for his particular applications.
Parameters specified for OAs are those characterizing the transmission, operation, reliability
and environmental properties of the OA seen as a “black box” from a general point of view. In
the sectional and detail specifications a subset of these parameters will be specified
according to the type and application of the particular OA device or assembly.
2 Normative references
The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and
are indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
...