Update on Standards

Update on standards developments and test parameters.

In 1998 the TIA/EIA 568 standard will be seven years old, as will the category 5 test parameters. In that time processing speeds in the work area have more than doubled, and network transmission rates have increased a hundred fold. In late 1997 and early 1998 Various standard bodies announced the development of a new set of standards designed to provide a higher level of performance in the communications cabling infrastructure. These new standards will allow Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) cabling system to be better positioned to support the demands of the latest network applications. The latest developments include:

• The first formal announcement that Category 6 will be developed which came from the international ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC25/WG3 cabling standards committee in September, 1997.

• The ANSI?TIA?EIA TR41.8.1 Connecting Hardware Task Group’s third draft of a document that will be an addendum to the ‘568-A standard. This document Additional Transmission Performance Specifications for 4-pair 100 Ohm Category 5, Enhanced Category 5m and Category 6 Cabling will provide the specific transmission performance requirements for Cat 5e and Cat 6 connecting hardware.

• The TR41.8.1 UTP Systems Task Group’s introduction of the first draft of a standard for Transmission Performance Specifications for 4-pair 100 Ohm Category 6 Cabling.

• This document proposes transmission performance for category 6 links and channels as well as cable and connectors.

While the highest test frequencies for Cat 5E and Cat 6 is still uncertain (100 Mhz, and 200 Mhz or 250 Mhz respectively) the fact that new measurement criteria will be included is clear. The new criteria includes Power Sum Near End Crosstalk (PSNEXT), Return Loss, Far End Crosstalk (FEXT) and Equal Level FEXT (ELFEXT), as well as more stringent NEXT and Attenuation requirements. The proposed Category 6 specification is designed to double the available bandwidth of Category 5 while the intent of the Category 5E standard is to provide performance specifications beyond a minimally compliant category 5 system.

1998 has also seen some exciting developments in high speed network development. The adoption in June of the first section of the Gigabit Ethernet Standard by the IEEE 802.3z committee, and the expectation of a first ballot in July on a submission from the 802.3ab committee for a UTP based system (1000BASE-T) has given network managers a concrete basis for planning for the future gigabit-to-desktop applications. With the stated goal of utilizing standard category 5 cabling and the selection of the PAM-5 encoding scheme, the 802.3ab committee has provided a clear migration path from 100BASE-T to 1000BASE-T networks.

As always, Hubbell Premise Wiring is dedicated to ongoing research & development to ensure that their products exceed the latest standards. As a member of numerous standards organizations including TIA, IEEE, and the ATM Forum, Hubbell Premise Wiring products and installations will provide you with current and developing industry standards and network applications.