cable loss

Cable losses in metallic conductors are based on the ohmic resistances of the conductors. In addition, there are the frequency-dependent losses, which increase with increasing frequency.

These include the capacitive and inductive losses of the cable as well as the losses caused by the skin effect of the conductor. The transmission loss is therefore dependent on the frequency, the transmission media and the cable length. With metallic conductors, losses are generally greater at higher frequencies than at lower frequencies. As a result, high quality cables with lower losses at high frequencies are used for broadband applications.

Optical waveguides have other causes of loss, expressed in mode dispersion and natural oscillations. In addition, material properties and the wavelength of the transmitted light affect the losses.