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Seminar - An Overview of Communications Technologies


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Module 7 - LAN, WAN, VPN, WLAN, MAN, FDDI and Optical MANS                                                        Slide 9 of 45 _________________                                                                                  __________

                                                 Cable Categories

                                           Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Types

                                        Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Types

_________________                                                                                  __________

The STP cables are of two types: Type 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. The UTP cables are classified in five categories: Category 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

STP Types: These types of cables are used for IBM's Token Ring LAN. The IBM Cabling System defines aspects of cabling infrastructure for wiring a building. IBM has defined the cable types, specification of the cable and the use of each type.

Type Specification Use
                  1 22 -gauge, 2 twisted pair, solid copper, 150 ohm characteristic impedance with each pair foil shielded Horizontal cabling in a building
                  Type 1 and 22 -gauge type 3 in one jacket  Horizontal cabling for data and telephone pairs in the same jacket
                  3 22 - or 24 - gauge, 4 twisted pair, solid copper, 150 ohm Voice Grade cable used for data applications
                  Two strands of optical fiber cable (100/140 micrometer) Long cable runs, or outdoor cabling
                  26 -gauge, 2 twisted pair, stranded copper, 150 ohm characteristic impedance with each pair foil shielded From workstation to wall jack
                  7 1 twisted pair, copper, 150 ohm, shielded Rarely used
                  8 26 -gauge, 2 parallel pair (not twisted), solid copper, 150 ohm characteristic impedance with each pair foil shielded Under carpet cabling
                  9 26 -gauge, 2 twisted pair, stranded or solid copper, 150 ohm characteristic impedance with each pair foil shielded Under carpet cabling

UTP Types: A popular type of cable for LANs and other in-house voice and data applications. UTP usually refers to the specifications in the EIA/TIA-568 Commercial Building Telecommunications Wiring Standard. UTP specifies: four individually twisted pairs per cable; each pair characteristic impedance - 100 ohms and o.5106 mm diameter for 24 gauge and 0.6438 mm diameter for 22 gauge copper conductor.

Category Characteristics Use
            1        None Alarms
            2        None Telephones, low speed data
            3 specified up to 16 M Hz Ethernet (10Base-T, 100Base-T4), 4 M bps Token Ring
            4 specified up to 20 M Hz 16 M bps Token Ring
            5 specified up to 100 M Hz Ethernet (100Base-TX), SONET, OC-3 (ATM)