When optical fibers are joined by a splice or a pair of mated connectors, a power loss that is caused by any mismatch in size or shape of the cross section of the cores of the mating fibers. Note 1: Any of the above conditions may allow light from the core of the "transmitting" fiber to enter the cladding of the "receiving" fiber, where it is quickly lost. Note 2: Area loss may be dependent on the direction of propagation. For example, in coupling a signal from an optical fiber having a smaller core to an otherwise identical one having a larger core, there will be no area loss, but in the opposite direction, there will be area loss.