| Full title | Information technology. Implementation and operation of customer premises cabling. Part 3: Testing of optical fibre cabling |
| Publisher | ISO and IEC, joint technical committee ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 25 |
| Current edition | Edition 3.0, 2024-05. Replaces Edition 2 (2014) and Amendment 1 (2018) |
| Status | Current. IEC stability date 2028. An amendment is at working draft stage |
| Related standards | ISO/IEC 11801-1, ISO/IEC 14763-2, IEC 61280-4-1, IEC 61280-4-5, IEC 61300-3-35, IEC 61746-1/-2, IEC 61315 |
What it covers
ISO/IEC 14763-3 specifies systems and methods for inspecting and testing installed optical fibre cabling. It applies to cabling designed to premises cabling standards, including the ISO/IEC 11801 series, and installed to ISO/IEC 14763-2.
Where a standards-based test procedure already exists, the document refers to it. The quality plan for each installation, prepared under ISO/IEC 14763-2, sets which acceptance tests are run and the sampling level.
Changes in Edition 3
- Plastic optical fibre testing removed
- Testing of MPO (multi-fibre) cabling added
- End-to-end (E2E) link and MPTL testing with a light source and power meter (LSPM) added
- Measurement uncertainty given for every method
- Normative visual inspection for cleanliness, aligned with the ISO/IEC 11801 series
- Single-mode testing to 10 km
- Reference connectors described, with new attenuation limits for connectors measured against them
- Recommended cleaning methods added
Structure
| Clause or annex | Subject |
|---|---|
| 5 | Test equipment: light source, power meter, OTDR, test cord connectors, test cords, visual inspection equipment |
| 6 | Testing: reference planes, wavelength, direction, cleanliness, tests of installed cabling |
| 7 | Performance assessment of installed components using an OTDR |
| 8 | Test result documentation |
| Annex A (normative) | Test cord attenuation verification |
| Annex B (informative) | Quality planning |
| Annex C (informative) | Example calculations of channel and permanent link limits |
| Annex D (informative) | Optional end-face inspection of test connectors |
| Annex E (normative) | Cleaning of LC, LC/APC and single-mode MPO APC interfaces |
| Annex F (normative) | MPO to MPO link testing, enhanced three-test-cord method |
Tests on installed cabling
| Clause | Test |
|---|---|
| 6.9.2 | Attenuation of single fibre connector cabling, by LSPM |
| 6.9.3 | Attenuation of multi-fibre (MPO) connector cabling, by LSPM |
| 6.9.4 | Attenuation of links and channels, by OTDR |
| 6.9.5 | Propagation delay |
| 6.9.6 | Length |
| 6.9.7 to 6.9.9 | Fibre continuity, cabling polarity and fibre core size |
Reference planes are defined for channels, links, permanent links, E2E links and MPTL. Clause 7 adds OTDR assessment of cable attenuation, test interfaces, connecting hardware, joints, return loss and fibre length. It also covers bi-directional measurement and the parameters that define what an OTDR can measure, including dynamic range, pulse width, averaging time, dead zone, group index and event threshold.
Test cords and reference connectors
Test cords are fitted with reference connectors. These are connectors made to tighter tolerances (Clause 5.6.3 and the IEC 61755 reference-connection standards) so that their own loss is low and repeatable. Clause 5.6 gives mechanical requirements for single fibre and multi-fibre reference connectors, multimode and single-mode, and attenuation test limits for connectors.
- LSPM cords: launch test cord, tail test cord and substitution test cord.
- OTDR cords: launch test cord and tail test cord, so the first and last connectors of the cabling under test can be assessed.
- Verification: Annex A (normative) sets how test cord attenuation is verified. The standard also shows how test cords are labelled and identified.
Multimode launch conditions are set by IEC 62614-1 and measured to IEC 61280-1-4 (encircled flux). Power meters are calibrated to IEC 61315 and OTDRs to IEC 61746-1 and IEC 61746-2.
Related standards
| Standard | Relationship |
|---|---|
| ISO/IEC 11801-1 | Cabling performance limits. Referenced normatively |
| ISO/IEC 14763-2 | Planning, installation and quality planning. Referenced normatively |
| IEC 61280-4-1 | Multimode attenuation of installed cabling. Referenced normatively |
| IEC 61280-4-5 | Attenuation of MPO cabling with MPO test equipment. Referenced normatively |
| IEC 61280-4-2 | Single-mode attenuation and optical return loss of installed cabling. Not among the normative references of Edition 3 (it was a normative reference in Edition 2, 2014) |
| IEC 61300-3-35 | Visual inspection of connector end faces. Referenced normatively |
What it means in practice
- Inspect and clean every connector before testing. Cleanliness inspection is normative in Edition 3.
- Check the test report states the configuration tested (link, permanent link or channel) and the reference method.
- Check the test cords have been verified and are identified on the report.
- OTDR results show where loss occurs. LSPM results give the end-to-end attenuation compared with the limit.
- Specifications that still cite the 2014 edition miss MPO testing and the reference connector limits.
Related reading: How to calculate a fibre loss budget · Why fibre connectors need cleaning.