What is the formula for cable attenuation?

Cable attenuation measures the loss of signal strength as it travels through a cable. The formula for cable attenuation (in decibels per unit length) is typically expressed as:

[ \text{Attenuation (dB)} = 10 \times \log_{10} \left( \frac{P_{\text{input}}}{P_{\text{output}}} \right) \div L ]

where ( P_{\text{input}} ) is the input power, ( P_{\text{output}} ) is the output power, and ( L ) is the length of the cable in the same units as the power measurements. This formula quantifies how much signal is lost over a given length of cable.