9/6/13

1000BASE-T over category 5?

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HomeSupportandDownloadsKnowledgeBaseApplication/StandardsArticles(Copper)1000BASEToverCategory5?

1000BASEToverCategory5?
ThisarticleisintendedtoclarifythephysicallayerrequirementsforGigabitEthernet(1000BASET)overbalancedtwistedpaircabling.TheIEEE802.3abstandardforGigabitEthernetover
balancetwistedpaircablingwasapprovedinJune28,1999.Thisisimportanttonote,sincecategory5ewasnotapproveduntilJanuary2000asANSI/TIA/EIA568A5.Thiswouldsuggestthat
GigabitEthernetmaynotrequirecategory5eperformance.(Youshouldinstallcategory5easaminimumtoday)

ThefollowingtextisfromIEEE802.3.Youcandownloaditforfreefromhttp://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/802.3.html

40.7Linksegmentcharacteristics
1000BASETisdesignedtooperateovera4pairCategory5balancedcablingsystem.Eachofthefourpairssupportsaneffectivedatarateof250Mbpsineachdirectionsimultaneously.The
term..

40.7.1Cablingsystemcharacteristics
Thecablingsystemusedtosupport1000BASETrequires4pairsofCategory5balancedcablingwithanominalimpedanceof100.Thecablingsystemcomponents(cables,cords,and
connectors)usedtoprovidethelinksegmentshallconsistofCategory5componentsasspecifiedinANSI/TIA/EIA568A:1995andISO/IEC11801:1995.Additionally:

a)1000BASETusesastartopologywithCategory5balancedcablingusedtoconnectPHYentities.
b)1000BASETisanISO/IEC11801ClassDapplication,withadditionalinstallationrequirementsandtransmissionparametersspecifiedinAnnex40A.
c)ThewidthofthePMDtransmitsignalspectrumisapproximately80MHz.
d)Theuseofshieldingisoutsidethescopeofthisstandard.

40.7.2Linktransmissionparameters
ThetransmissionparameterscontainedinthissubclausearespecifiedtoensurethataCategory5linksegmentofuptoatleast100mwillprovideareliablemedium.Thetransmission
parametersofthelinksegmentincludeinsertionloss,delayparameters,characteristicimpedance,NEXTloss,ELFEXTloss,andreturnloss.Linksegmenttestingshall.

WhentheIEEEwasdevelopingtheGigabitEthernetstandard,theinstalledbaseofdatacablingwascategory5.TheIEEEsetthegoalfortheactiveequipmentvendorstoensurethattheGigabit
Switcheswouldworkonthemajorityoftheinstalledbase.

TheIEEEworkinggroupsetthefollowingobjectives:

ComplywithspecificationsforGMIIof802.3z.
Providelinetransmissionwhichsupportsfullandhalfduplexoperation.
ProvideFCCClassA/CISPRorbetteroperation
Supportoperationover100metersofCategory5balancedcabling
AchievebitErrorRatebetterthanto1010
SupportAutoNegotiation(Clause28)
Meetsusceptibilityrequirements
Supporttheobjectivesof802.3zofNov.13,1996

Forexample,theIntel82544EIand82544GCGigabitEthernetControllerswerespecificallydesignedtorunovertheinstalledbaseofcategory5.

BUT,vendorssuchasIntelrequiredfurtherinformationthatwasnotinitiallyavailable.Tomakeitwork,theIEEEneededtosplitthe1000Mb/sintofourpaths,oneforeachofthefourpairs.What
causedtheheadachewasthateachpairwouldtransmitandreceivedatthesametimefullduplex.Thismeantthatsomenewimportanttestparametershadtobedefined.Problemwasthatthese
wereunknownfortheinstalledbaseofcategory5.

Thenewtestparametersnotfullydefinedinthefieldtestingofcategory5were:

Delayskew
ReturnLoss
EqualLevelFarEndCrosstalk(ELFEXT)
PowerSumEqualLevelFarEndCrosstalk(PSELFEXT)

TheIEEEturnedtotheTIA(TelecommunicationsIndustryAssociation)anditsmembersforhelp.TheTIAwasaskedtocomeupwithasetoflimitlinesforthesemissingparametersthatwould
representthemajorityoftheinstalledbaseofcategory5cabling(>85%).TheIEEEwouldthenworkaroundthesefigures.

TheTIAcameupwiththelimitlinesbasedonmemberfeedback.TheTIA/EIAcablinggroupthenissuedTIA/EIATSB95:AdditionalTransmissionPerformanceGuidelinesfor1004Pair
Category5Cabling.TheserequirementswereincorporatedintoIEEE802.3ab.

TelecommunicationSystemBulletinsareNOTstandards.SinceTSB95wasnotanofficialstandard,anaddendumtotheexistingANSI/TIA/EIA568Awasrequired.Thiscameintheformof
addendum5andtheintroductionofcategory5e.Cablingcomponentshadimprovedsincetheintroductionofcategory5in1995.TheTIA/EIAcablinggroup(andmarketingfolks)tookadvantage
ofthisandraisedthebarforperformance.Thefollowingtablegivesanindicationtothelevelofperformanceincrease:

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9/6/13

1000BASE-T over category 5?

Thisinformationwillinevitablyimpactyourdecisiontorecableornot.Ifyouareinstallinganewcablingsystemtoday,itshouldbeatleastcategory5eANSI/TIA568C.Category5eobsoletes
category5.

Therearemanysituationswhererecablingmaynotbeanoptionespeciallyiftherearehazardousmaterialsinthecrawlspacewherethecablelies.Ifthereisaneedtorun1000BASETovera
link,theusercanverifythecablingsystemwithafieldtesterfirst,toseeifthecablingwillsupport1000BASET.

Iftheoriginalinstallationwaspost1995andtheinstallationgood,youmaybesurprisedtofindthatthelink(s)willsupport1000BASET.

IfyouhaveaDSP4x00orOMNIScanner,youcanselecteitherTIA/EIATSB95or1000BASETinthestandardsmenu.Thisisachanneltest,somakesureyoutesttheentirelinkfromthe
switchtothePC.Ifyouchangetheusercords,youwillneedtotestagain.However,Ioftenrecommendtestingtocategory5efirstsincemanyinstallationswillmeetthisanditaddsalittlemargin
ofassurance.IftheAutotestshouldfail,thenbackoffto1000BASETorTSB95.

Nowtopreemptyourquestiononcategory6.Doyouneedit?Thisisadecisionthatonlyyoucanmake.Youshouldalwaysinstalltheverybestsolutionyoucanafford,afterall,youonlygetone
chanceatthis.

Finally,insistoncertificationresultsforanywork.
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CreationDate: 3/8/20048
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