loss budget

Referring to the calculated amount of signal attenuation that a transmission system will tolerate between two points. The calculation considers the power level of the transmitter and the gain, i.e., sensitivity level, of the receiver. In a fiber optic transmission system (FOTS), the loss budget establishes the total amount of tolerable loss attributable to the propagation of the signal through splices, connectors, and the optical fiber cable itself. See also attenuation, connector, FOTS, gain, loss, optical fiber, power, propagation, signal, and splice.