Agilent Technologies 86038A User Manual page 299

Dispersion Terminology Glossary
PSP Bandwidth
The width of the wavelength or frequency interval over which the PSP's
remain fixed. See also PSP.
Random Mode Coupling
In the context of transmission fiber, the situation in which the fiber is
sufficiently long that a large amount of mode coupling exists. Sometimes
referred to as the long-fiber regime.
Resolution
The ability of the 86038A ODA to reveal fine details in the response of the
test device (for example, a fine group delay ripple, or a steep filter slope).
Resolution depends on various setup factors, especially wavelength step
size and modulation frequency.
Retarder
Birefringent device used as a phase shifter.
Samples
In the context of the 86038A ODA in the Step mode of operation, the
'Samples/Point' refers to the number of amplitude and phase values
acquired during a single sweep of the network analyzer at each given
measurement wavelength.
Scan Polarization
Explore all polarization states for the purpose of measuring the polarization
dependence of a test device.
Scramble Polarization
Change the polarization state in a fashion that makes the light appear
unpolarized to a measuring instrument such as a power meter, spectrum
analyzer or high resolution spectrometer.
Sensitivity
The ability of the 86038A ODA to reveal the response of the test device in
the presence of high optical attenuation. Sensitivity depends of various
setup factors, especially number of samples and IF bandwidth.
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Agilent 86038A Optical Dispersion Analyzer, Third Edition