
In
telecommunications
Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...
, extinction ratio (''r''
e) is the
ratio
In mathematics, a ratio () shows how many times one number contains another. For example, if there are eight oranges and six lemons in a bowl of fruit, then the ratio of oranges to lemons is eight to six (that is, 8:6, which is equivalent to the ...
of two optical
power
Power may refer to:
Common meanings
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power, a type of energy
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
Math ...
levels of a
digital signal
A digital signal is a signal that represents data as a sequence of discrete values; at any given time it can only take on, at most, one of a finite number of values. This contrasts with an analog signal, which represents continuous values; ...
generated by an optical source, e.g., a
laser diode
file:Laser diode chip.jpg, The laser diode chip removed and placed on the eye of a needle for scale
A laser diode (LD, also injection laser diode or ILD or semiconductor laser or diode laser) is a semiconductor device similar to a light-emittin ...
. The extinction ratio may be expressed as a fraction, in
dB, or as a
percentage
In mathematics, a percentage () is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction (mathematics), fraction of 100. It is often Denotation, denoted using the ''percent sign'' (%), although the abbreviations ''pct.'', ''pct'', and sometimes ''pc'' are ...
.
It may be given by
:
where ''P''
1 is the optical power level generated when the light source is on, and ''P''
0 is the power level generated when the light source is off.
The polarization extinction ratio (PER) is the ratio of optical powers of perpendicular polarizations, usually called TE (transverse electric) and TM (transverse magnetic). In telecommunications, the PER is used to characterize the degree of polarization in a polarization-maintaining device or fiber. For coherent transmitter and receiver, the PER is a key parameter, since X polarization and Y polarization are coded with different signals.
References
*
* Material also incorporated from MIL-STD-2196.
Data transmission
Telecommunication theory
Engineering ratios
Laser science
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