This document provides an overview of structured cabling technologies for networking. It discusses what structured cabling is, the subsystems of a structured cabling system including the entrance facility, equipment room, backbone cabling, telecommunications closet, horizontal cabling, and work area. It also covers the different cabling types, such as UTP and fiber optic cabling. Standards bodies that define cabling standards are mentioned, including EIA/TIA, ANSI, and CSA. Specific standards like EIA/TIA 568 are also discussed.

1. Structure Cabling Technologies for Networking
Rumesh Eranga Hapuarachchi
rehrumesh@hotmail.com

2. Overview
• What is Structured Cabling?
• Structured Cabling Systems
• Subsystems of a structured cabling system
• Standards bodies
• Standards

3. What is
Structured
Cabling
• Foundation for any communication installation
• An appropriate cabling installation ensures,
• Proper operation of equipment
• Manageability
• Organization
• Expandability

4. Structured
Cabling Systems
• Two types of cabling
• UTP
• Fiber
• Runs in a star configuration

5. UTP
• Unshielded Twisted Pair
• Most common media for LAN and Ethernet
• Often used in conjunction with T/P distribution
• UTP is,
• Small
• Flexible
• Less expensive

6. Twist Pitch
• Used in UTP cabling
• Used to identify different length distance of
different pairs within a single cable.
• Varies between pairs to reduce the affects of
NEXT or signals jumping from one pair to another

7. • Standard UTP
• Used for patch cable
• Wires/conductors are made of
many flexible stands
• Not suitable for longer distances
• Solid UTP
• Used in horizontal wiring
• Less flexible
• More brittle
• Cheaper
• Efficient
Standard UTP vs Solid UTP

8. Optical Fiber
• Uses light pulses to transmit data
• Impervious to EMI & RFI
• Good for distance
• Offer greater bandwidth
• Consists of a glass core surrounded by a
protective coating

9. Subsystems
TIA/EIA 568A
• Building Entrance
• Equipment Room
• Backbone Cabling
• Telecommunications Closet
• Horizontal Cabling
• Work Area

10. Entrance Facility
• Pint where outside plant cables and associated
hardware brought into the building
• Cables from the outside end in an equipment
room which is the main distribution point for the
building.
• Often called as the BDF (Building distance frame)

11. Equipment Room
• A Centralized space for communications
equipment.
• Equipment rooms often contain cabling
distribution equipment.
• Patch panels and Cross Connect Blocks are used
to terminate or end cables and to connect them
with other cables and equipment

12. Backbone Cabling
• Interconnection between closets and equipment
rooms within a single building or between other
buildings.
• Large building may contain several distribution
points
• Telecommunications closets which are necessary
to overcome distance limitations.
• Risers are Vertical cable runs which connect
telecommunications closets on different floors

13. Telecommunicati-
ons Closet
• A space where horizontal distribution cables are
terminated.
• All cable and media types must be terminated on
compatible connecting hardware.
• Backbone cables are also terminated in the
closet.
• Cross connection is done with jumpers or patch
cords to provide flexible connectivity.

14. Horizontal
Cabling
• Physical media used to connect each outlet to a
closet.
• Horizontal cables span from telecommunications
closets to the wall jacks with which users connect
their equipment
• Copper cables, Coaxial Cables and Fiber optic
cables may be used.

15. Work Area
• Connection and cabling on the other side of the
telecommunications jack

16. Standards Bodies
• ANSI: American National Standards Institutes
• TIA: Telecommunication Industry Association
• EIA: Electronics Industry Association

17. Cabling
Standards
• EIA/TIA 568: first version of the standard, 1991
• TSB-36: Technical systems bulletin specification
for higher grades (cat 4, cat 5) of UTP
• TSB 40 : UTP Connecting hardware
• CSA T529: Commercial Telecommunications
Cabling Standard
• CSA T528: Administration Standard for the
telecommunications infrastructure of commercial
buildings

18. References
• Wikipedia. “Structured Cabling” wikipedia.com [Online].
Available : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structured_cabling
• Linctionaryt . “TIA/EIA Structured Cabling Standards”
linktionary.com [Online]. Available :
http://www.linktionary.com/t/tia_cabling.html
• Paul Rosenberg (2000, Apr. 1). “The Basics of Structured
Cabling”. EC & M [Online]. Available:
http://ecmweb.com/basics/basics-structured-cabling