telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

, structured cabling is building or campus cabling infrastructure that consists of a number of standardized smaller elements (hence structured) called subsystems. Structured cabling components include

twisted pair Twisted pair cabling is a type of wiring used for communications in which two conductors of a single circuit are twisted together for the purposes of improving electromagnetic compatibility. Compared to a single conductor or an untwisted ba ...

and optical cabling,

patch panel A patch panel is a device or unit featuring a number of jacks, usually of the same or similar type, for the use of connecting and routing circuits for monitoring, interconnecting, and testing circuits in a convenient, flexible manner. Patch ...

s and patch cables.

Overview

Structured cabling is the design and installation of a cabling system that will support multiple hardware uses and be suitable for today's needs and those of the future. With a correctly installed system, current and future requirements can be met, and hardware that is added in the future will be supported Structured cabling design and installation is governed by a set of standards that specify wiring data centers,

office An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...

s, and

apartment building An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

s for data or voice communications using various kinds of cable, most commonly category 5e (Cat 5e), category 6 (Cat 6), and

fiber optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...

cabling and

modular connector A modular connector is a type of electrical connector for cords and cables of electronic devices and appliances, such as in computer networking, telecommunication equipment, and audio headsets. Modular connectors were originally developed fo ...

s. These standards define how to lay the cabling in various

topologies In mathematics, topology (from the Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, without closing ho ...

in order to meet the needs of the customer, typically using a central

(which is normally 19-inch rack-mounted), from where each modular connection can be used as needed. Each outlet is then patched into a

network switch A network switch (also called switching hub, bridging hub, and, by the IEEE, MAC bridge) is networking hardware that connects devices on a computer network by using packet switching to receive and forward data to the destination device. A netw ...

(normally also rack-mounted) for network use or into an IP or PBX ( private branch exchange) telephone system patch panel. Lines patched as data ports into a network switch require simple

straight-through patch cable A crossover cable connects two devices of the same type, for example DTE-DTE or DCE-DCE, usually connected asymmetrically (DTE-DCE), by a modified cable called a crosslink. Such a distinction between devices was introduced by IBM. The cross ...

s at each end to connect a computer. Voice patches to PBXs in most countries require an adapter at the remote end to translate the configuration on 8P8C modular connectors into the local standard telephone wall socket. No adapter is needed in North America as the 6P2C and 6P4C plugs most commonly used with

RJ11 A registered jack (RJ) is a standardized telecommunication network interface for connecting voice and data equipment to a service provided by a local exchange carrier or long distance carrier. Registration interfaces were first defined in th ...

and

RJ14 A registered jack (RJ) is a standardized telecommunication network interface for connecting voice and data equipment to a service provided by a local exchange carrier or long distance carrier. Registration interfaces were first defined in th ...

telephone connections are physically and electrically compatible with the larger 8P8C socket.

RJ25 A registered jack (RJ) is a standardized telecommunication network interface for connecting voice and data equipment to a service provided by a local exchange carrier or long distance carrier. Registration interfaces were first defined in th ...

and

RJ61 A registered jack (RJ) is a standardized telecommunication network interface for connecting voice and data equipment to a service provided by a local exchange carrier or long distance carrier. Registration interfaces were first defined in th ...

connections are physically but not electrically compatible, and cannot be used. In the United Kingdom, an adapter must be present at the remote end as the 6-pin BT socket is physically incompatible with 8P8C. It is common to color-code patch panel cables to identify the type of connection, though structured cabling standards do not require it except in the demarcation wall field. Cabling standards require that all eight conductors in Cat 5e/6/6A cable be connected. IP phone systems can run the telephone and the computer on the same wires, eliminating the need for separate phone wiring. Regardless of copper cable type (Cat 5e/6/6A), the maximum distance is for the permanent link installation, plus an allowance for a combined of patch cords at the ends. Cat 5e and Cat 6 can both effectively run

power over Ethernet Power over Ethernet, or PoE, describes any of several Technical standard, standards or ad hoc systems that pass electric power along with data on Ethernet over twisted pair, twisted-pair Ethernet cabling. This allows a single cable to provide ...

(PoE) applications up to . However, due to greater power dissipation in Cat 5e cable, performance and power efficiency are higher when Cat 6A cabling is used to power and connect to PoE devices.

Subsystems

Structured cabling consists of six subsystems: * '' Entrance facilities'' is the point where the

telephone company A telephone company, also known as a telco, telephone service provider, or telecommunications operator, is a kind of communications service provider (CSP), more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunicat ...

network ends and connects with the

on-premises wiring On-premises wiring (customer premises wiring) is customer-owned telecommunication transmission or distribution lines. The transmission lines may be metallic (copper) or optical fiber, and may be installed within or between buildings. Premises ...

belonging to the customer. * ''Equipment rooms'' house equipment and wiring consolidation points that serve the users inside the building or campus. * ''Backbone cabling'' is the inter-building and intra-building cable connections in structured cabling between entrance facilities, equipment rooms and telecommunications closets. Backbone cabling consists of the transmission media, main and intermediate cross-connects and terminations at these locations. This system is mostly used in data centers. * ''Horizontal cabling'' wiring can be standard inside wiring (IW) or '' plenum cabling'' and connects telecommunications rooms to individual outlets or work areas on the floor, usually through the wireways, conduits or ceiling spaces of each floor. A ''horizontal cross-connect'' is where the horizontal cabling connects to a patch panel or punch up block, which is connected by backbone cabling to the main distribution facility. * ''Telecommunications rooms'' or ''telecommunications enclosure'' connects between the backbone cabling and horizontal cabling. * ''Work-area components'' connect end-user equipment to outlets of the horizontal cabling system.

Standards

Network cabling standards are used internationally and are published by ISO/IEC, CENELEC and the

Telecommunications Industry Association The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to develop voluntary, consensus-based industry standards for a wide variety of Information and Communication Technologies ( ICT) ...

(TIA). Most European countries use CENELEC, International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) or

International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in Art ...

(ISO) standards. The main CENELEC document is EN50173, which introduces contextual links to the full suite of CENELEC documents.

ISO/IEC 11801 International standard ISO/IEC 11801 ''Information technology — Generic cabling for customer premises'' specifies general-purpose telecommunication cabling systems (structured cabling) that are suitable for a wide range of applications (analog an ...

heads the ISO/IEC documentation. In the US, the Telecommunications Industry Association issue the

ANSI/TIA-568 ANSI/TIA-568 is a technical standard for commercial building cabling for telecommunications products and services. The title of the standard is ''Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling Standard'' and is published by the Telecommunication ...

standards for telecommunications cabling in commercial premises.

Notes

References

External links