How to Use a Variable Optical Attenuator module Setting Attenuation and/or Power Levels
Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Sixth Edition 207
How to Set a Power Level
Single-wavelength signals
Set the λ parameters to the wavelength of the source.
Yo u can e dit P
SET
to set the power output of the Attenuator directly.
Multi-wavelength DWDM signals
If you wish to set the output power of a multi-wavelength DWDM signal, use an
8157xA Attenuator module (rather than a now discontinued 8156xA Attenuator
module) since these modules include a filter with minimum wavelength
dependency.
The 81576A and 81577A modules incorporate a powermeter whose responsivity
varies over wavelength. The module-specific response data is accessible via a
computer interface, so an effective wavelength λ
effective
for your input signal’s
optical spectrum can be determined most readily, but not exclusively, by using the
hp816x VXI PnP Spectral Calibration function (hp816x_spectralCalibration).
Refer to:
• Measuring the Dependence of Optical Amplifiers on Input Power Using an
Attenuator. Application Note.
Agilent Technologies publication number 5988-5260EN.
• Agilent 8163A/B Lightwave Multimeter, Agilent 8164A/B Lightwave
Measurement System, and Agilent 8166A/B Lightwave Multichannel System,
Programming Guide, part number 08164-90B63 (or a later edition).
Calibrating Test Setups that use an
81570A/71A/73A/78A Attenuator module
Requirement for Calibration
P
SET
is a relative measurement that is meaningful only after your test setup has
been calibrated against a reference powermeter.
For accurate power measurements, the simple weighted wavelength of a
multi-wavelength DWDM signal is insufficient.
NOTE
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