Cabling Technology

and Standards

Networks
Data Communication
Transfer of digital data between between 2 or more remotely
attached autonomous systems in a reliable and
understandable manner

Networks
Network data communication between 2 or more devices with
the ability to access shared resources

LAN - local area network

WAN - wide area network

Networks Topologies
Bus

Ring

Star

Networks Components
Hubs
Switches
Routers

Networks Components
(Cont.)

Hub connects multiple

devices on same network via
individual dedicated cable
runs (star topology)

Switch provides a dedicated

communication channel
between network devices

Networks Components
(Cont.)

Router connects between

entities residing on
different networks

Cabling Standards

Common Abbreviations
ACR
P.ACR
BER
FEXT
NEXT
P.S. NEXT
ELFEXT
P.S. ELFEXT
STP
TSB
UTP
Alien XT

- Attenuation to Cross-Talk Ratio

- Power Sum Attenuation to Cross-Talk Ratio
- Bit Error Rate
- Far End Cross-Talk
- Near End Cross-Talk
- Power Sum Near End Cross-Talk
- Equal Level Far End Cross-Talk
- Power Sum Equal Level Far End Cross-Talk
- Shielded Twisted Pair
- Telecommunications Systems Bulletin
- Unshielded Twisted Pair
- Alien Cross Talk

Standards Organizations
EIA/TIA (USA)
Electrical/Telecommunication Industries Association
ANSI
American National Standards Institute
ISO/IEC
International Organization for Standardization
International Electrotechnical Commission
CENELC
European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
IEEE
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

World Structured Cabling Standards

ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.1 and B.2
ratified in 2001, CAT5 / CAT5E
ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.2-1
ratified in 2002, CAT6
ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.2-10
finalized May 2008, CAT6a
ISO/IEC 2nd edition generic
cabling standard 11801 ratified in 2002
CENELEC generic cabling standard EN 50173-1
ratified in 2002

Standards History
ANSI / TIA / EIA-568
ANSI/EIA/TIA 568 published in 1991
The 1st Commercial Building Telecommunications Wiring Standard
The original document, together with TSB-36 & TSB-40 specified the
basic transmission requirements of Category 3, 4 & 5
ANSI/EIA/TIA 568A published in 1995
Recognized Cables for Horizontal Cabling:
4 pair 100 UTP cables (including S/UTP)
2 pair 150 STP cables (IBM TYPE-1A)
2 fiber 62.5/125 and 50/125 fiber-optic cable

ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B series
ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.1
General Infrastructure requirements
Copper and Fiber
ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.2
Copper requirements Cat3, Cat5, Cat5E
ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.3
Fiber requirements

ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B-1 series
General Requirements

B-1.1 Minimum 4 pair UTP and ScTP patch cable bend radius
B-1.2 Bonding and Grounding
B-1.3 Supportable distances and Channel Attenuation for F/O
applications by Fiber type
B-1.4 Recognition of CAT6 and 850 nm Laser-Optimized
50/125 m MM F/O cabling
B-1.5 Cabling for Telecommunication Enclosures
B-1.6 PoE (Power Over Ethernet)
B-1.7 F/O connectivity Methods for Polarity

ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B-2 series
Copper

B-2.1 Category 6 specifications

B-2.2 Balanced Twisted-Pair Cabling Components
B-2.3 IL & RL Pass/Fail Determination
B-2.4 Solderless Connection Reliability Requirements for Copper
Connecting Hardware
B-2.5 Corrections to TIA/EIA-568-B.2
B-2.6 Cat 6 Related Component Test Procedures
B-2.7 Reliability Specification Requirements for Copper Connecting
Hardware
B-2.8 Additional Component Req. for DTE Power
B-2.9 Additional Cat 6 Balance Requirements & Measurement Procedures
B-2.10 Augmented Cat 6 Cabling (10G))
B-2.11 increased UTP and ScTP Cable Diameter

ANSI/TIA/EIA 568-B-3 series

Fiber
B-3.1 Laser Optimized (OM-3) MM 10 Gigabit
TSB 140 Additional Guidelines for Field-Testing Length,
Loss and Polarity of Optical Fiber Cabling Systems

CELENEC EN 50173-1 Series

EN 50173-1 General Requirements

EN 50173-2 Office (Commercial) Premises
EN 50173-3 Industrial Premises
EN 50173-4 Residential Premises
EN 50173-5 Data Centers

Testing Parameters

Link & Channel definitions

Commercial Building Telecommunications
Cabling Standard
Link - The transmission between any two interfaces of generic cabling
without equipment & work area cables (where an optional transition
connection is allowed)
Maximum Link length is 90 Mtrs

Channel - The end-to-end transmission path connecting any two pieces of

application specific equipment with equipment & work area cables
Maximum Channel length is 100 Mtrs

CAT5 100 MHz Testing

Link Performance of UTP cables in horizontal
cabling
Field test parameters:
Wire Map
Length
Attenuation
Near-End Cross Talk (NEXT)
Characteristic Impedance is not tested

CAT5E, CAT6, CAT6a

CAT5E-100 MHz - Testing
CAT6-250 MHz - Testing
CAT6a-500 MHz - Testing

Attenuation
NEXT
Powersum NEXT
Wire Map
Length
ELFEXT
Powersum ELFEXT
Return Loss
Delay
Delay Skew

Categories and Classes

Category- specification for components cables,
patch panels, communication outlets
Class- specification for system application on full
channel

CAT5 / Class D
CAT6 / Class E
CAT6a / New Class E
CAT7 / Class F
CAT8 / Class G

Categories -Summary

CAT3 10 Mbit, 16 MHz

CAT4 16 Mbit, 20 MHz
CAT5 10/100 Mbit, 100 MHz
CAT5E 10/100/1000 Mbit, 100 MHz
CAT6 10/100/1000 Mbit + 10Gbit 55m channel,
(STP), 250 MHz
CAT6A 10/100/1000 Mbit + 10Gbit UTP and STP, 500 MHz
CAT7 10/100/1000 Mbit + 10Gbit, 600 MHz)
CAT7A STP, Tera connector, 1 GHz
CAT8 SOHO, 1200 MHz, 50m channel

Classes - Summary

A 100 kHz (voice)

B 1 MHz (ISDN)
C 16 MHz (Token Ring)
D 100 MHz (fast Ethernet, Gigabit Eternet)
E 200 MHz usage / 250 MHz testing
F 600 MHz usage / 750 MHz testing
G 1200 MHz usage / 1500 MHz testing

Categories and Protocols

10BaseT
100BaseT (4 pairs CAT4)
100BaseTX (2 pairs CAT5 pins 1,2 and 3,6)
1000BaseT (4 pairs CAT5E full duplex)
1000BaseTX (4 pairs CAT6 2 pairs Tx
and 2 pairs Rx)
10GBaseT (4 pairs CAT7 full duplex)
Maximum channel length 100m

Category 6
Standard ratified in 2002
Bandwidth 250 MHz
1GBit Ethernet applications
Protocol running 1000BaseTx
Full UTP/STP solutions

Category 6a

Standard ratified in 2008

Augmented CAT6
Channel up to 100 m
Bandwidth 500 MHz
UTP and STP solutions
New cable design (Horizontal and patch cords)
Issues with Alien CrossTalk (AXT)

Category 7
CAT7 draft stage
Addressing broadband
applications such as Video
Standadized by ISO/IEC and
Cenelec (EN)
Bandwidth 600 MHz
STP solution only
Proposed connectors
Siemon Tera not compatible with RJ45
Nexans GG45

Category 7 Connectors
New connector design
Two compliant interface
designs currently exist
Very little is installed, or
projected to be installed, over
the next two years
The Siemon Company - Tera

NEXANS - GG45 Jack and GP45 Plug

IEEE 802.3an - 10GBaseT

Bandwidth 500 MHz
Can run on CAT6 systems but limited to 55m channel
IEEE says this is sufficient for 70% of 10Gbit installations
which are in Data Centers
On CAT6a systems full 100m channel

Future developments
(Increasing need for speed)
IEEE 802.3 HSSG (higher speed study group)
40/100 Gb/s (design goal)
Sm optical fibre, 10 km
MM optical fibre (OM3), 100 m
Copper, 10 m, STP cabling eight pairs

Development plan with schedule for standard

in November 2009

Wire Map Standards

Pair 1
(Blue)

568A

Pair 1
(Blue)

Pair 2
(Orange)
Pair 3
(Green)

Pair 4
(Brown)

568B
Pair 3
(Green)

Pair 2
(Orange)

Pair 4
(Brown)

Official Certifications
RiT products are officially approved by the
following institutions:
DELTA (Denmark)
ETL (USA)
SEV (Switzerland)