Network Infrastructure Blog

The Wi-Fi Alliance called the decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to open 1,200 MHz of spectrum in the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use “historic and visionary” and likely to “transform wireless connectivity for decades to come”. This game‑changing vote, which took place on April 23, 2020, paved the way for broad market adoption of Wi-Fi 6E devices.

Wi-Fi 6E is the new Wi-Fi Alliance terminology for IEEE 802.11ax devices that are capable of operating at 6 GHz, as well as in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz spectra already used by Wi-Fi 6 for transmission. The key point here is that Wi‑Fi 6E isn’t a new wireless protocol; rather it’s an expansion of current Wi‑Fi 6 technology into a new and much wider radio frequency band. This capability will reduce latency because there aren’t existing Wi-Fi devices competing for bandwidth in the newly opened spectrum. Likewise, transmission speeds, even when obstructions are present, will significantly increase. Opening the 6 GHz portion of the spectrum increases the total spectrum currently available for Wi-Fi operation on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands by a factor of roughly five times. This is enough spectrum to offer seven additional completely non-overlapping 160 MHz wide channels or fourteen non‑overlapping 80 MHz wide channels. Wi‑Fi 6E devices are expected to become available quickly as only small changes to the antennae and front ends on existing Wi‑Fi 6 devices are required.

Evolution of IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi Protocols

Since the 6 GHz Wi-Fi 6E enhancement essentially facilitates implementation of the existing Wi‑Fi 6 protocol, there’s no change to the theoretical maximum transmission rate of 9.6 Gb/s or the often-referenced “real world” transmission rate of greater than 5 Gb/s for this application. As a result, there’s no change to Siemon’s recommendation that two category 6A or higher performing cabling drops be available at every wireless access point. This recommendation is also repeated in the recently published TIA-568.0-E Generic and TIA-568.1-E Commercial Building telecommunications cabling Standards.

It’s important to keep in mind that the FCC is an independent agency of the United States government. So, while the outcome of their vote cleared the way for Wi-Fi 6E in the USA, other countries have had to make similar regulatory decisions. The good news is that communications agencies in China, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Germany, the U.K., France, Canada, and Saudi Arabia have already agreed to open the necessary spectrum to support Wi-Fi 6E. Many more countries are anticipated to adopt this change in the months to come.

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The Mexican Subcommittee on Standards for Interconnection of Information Technologies is the organization responsible for developing telecommunications cabling Standards for Mexican IT infrastructure system users, designers, and specifiers. Recently, the Structured Cabling Working Group finalized Mexican Standard NMX-I-14763-2-NYCE for the planning and installation of generic cabling, which is harmonized with international Standard ISO/IEC 14763-2. So far, the working group has produced nine structured cabling-related Standards:

• NMX-I-108-NYCE-2006: Telecomunicaciones – Cableado – Cableado estructurado – Puesta a tierra en sistemas de telecomunicaciones
• NMX-I-132-NYCE-2006: Telecomunicaciones – Cableado – Cableado estructurado – Especificaciones de las pruebas de cableado balanceado – Parte 1: Cableado instalado
• NMX-I-154-NYCE-2008: Telecomunicaciones – Cableado – Cableado estructurado – Cableado genérico residencial
• NMX-I-248-NYCE-2008: Telecomunicaciones – Cableado – Cableado estructurado – Cableado de Telecomunicaciones para edificios comerciales – Especificaciones y métodos de prueba
• NMX-I-279-NYCE-2009: Telecomunicaciones – Cableado – Cableado estructurado – Canalizaciones y espacios para cableado de telecomunicaciones en edificios comerciales
• NMX-I-14763-1-NYCE-2010: Telecomunicaciones – Cableado – Cableado estructurado – Implementación y operación de cableado en edificios comerciales – Parte 1: Administración
• NMX-I-24764-NYCE-2013: Tecnología de la información – Sistema de cableado genérico para centros de datos
• NMX-J-C-I-489-ANCE-ONNCCE-NYCE-2014: Centros de datos de alto desempeño sustentable y energético – Requisitos y métodos de comprobación
• NMX-I-14763-2-NYCE-2017: Tecnologías de la información-Implementación y operación de cableado estructurado – Parte 2: Planeación e instalación

The following two Standards, one for optical fiber cabling testing and one for telecommunication grounding networks, are currently under development by the Structured Cabling Working Group:

• PROY-NMX-I-14763-3-NYCE, Tecnología de la información – Cableado estructurado genérico – Implementación y operación – Parte 3 – Pruebas del cableado de fibra óptica
• PROY-NMX-I-30129-NYCE, Tecnología de la información – Redes de unión de telecomunicaciones para edificios y otras estructuras

The extensive number and range of networkable devices available for deployment in today’s smart buildings create environments that are safer, healthier, more energy efficient, and more responsive to occupant needs and preferences than ever before. ANSI/BICSI-007, “Information Communication Technology Design and Implementation Practices for Intelligent Buildings and Premises” published in August, 2017 and identifies best practices for integrating diverse applications and devices on the IT network. Key chapters address media recommendations, cabling topologies, design considerations for applications supporting both data and power, device density and coverage area sizing, and pathway considerations. Supplemental information related to deploying lighting, digital signage, acoustic and intercom systems, metering and monitoring systems, and other special building applications are also provided.

The topologies and media referenced in the BICSI-007 Standard are based on the horizontal and backbone cabling specifications appearing in TIA-568.0-D, TIA-862-B, and ISO/IEC 11801‑1. Structured cabling supporting intelligent building applications in new installations shall be deployed in a hierarchical star topology and consist of a minimum of category 6/class E (category 6A/class E_A recommended) balanced twisted-pair, laser-optimized multimode (i.e., OM3, OM4, and OM5) optical fibre, and all forms of singlemode optical fibre cabling.

The Standard emphasizes that a zone cabling design, which consists of horizontal cables run from the telecommunications room to a horizontal connection point or HCP (an intermediate connection point that is typically housed in an enclosure located in the ceiling space, on the wall, or below an access floor) provides a flexible infrastructure to accommodate current and future data, voice, building device, and wireless access point connections. Since spare ports are available at the HCP and individual cables only extend from the outlets at the HCP to building devices or outlets, zone cabling systems support rapid reorganization of work areas and equipment and simplify deployment of new devices and applications.

Detailed requirements for sizing and provisioning assist in the design and layout of entrance rooms, equipment rooms, telecommunications rooms, and telecommunications enclosures where cabling and equipment connections are made. Considerations for a wide range of cabling pathways (e.g., cable trays, J‑hooks and other non-contiguous pathways, conduit, raceways, ducts, poke-throughs and other in-floor systems, and access floors) aid in identifying the optimum pathway infrastructure system for various building system applications.

The key to a successful smart building deployment is the proper planning, design, and deployment of the cabling infrastructure. BICSI-007 is a valuable resource for intelligent building cabling best practices and the zone-based structured cabling architectures. In recognition of the rapid pace of growth and change in the smart building ecosystem, BICSI is already working of the next draft (under revision as BICSI-D053) of this Standard.

Click here to learn more about zone cabling for smart buildings. Click here to learn more about zone cabling for 60W PoE lighting systems.

The 2017 edition of the NFPA 70® National Electrical Code® (NEC) contains a new Article 840, Part VI requirement addressing premise powering of communications equipment over communications cable. This requirement only applies when the power supplied is greater than 60W (i.e., it does not apply to IEEE 802.3 Type 1 (15W), Type 2 (30W), and Type 3 (60W) PoE implementations). In this case, the maximum current that may be carried by a cable conductor is determined by the conductor gage (AWG) size, number of 4-pair cables in a bundle, and the mechanical temperature rating of the cable as provided in Table 725.144 of the NEC and excerpted below. Note that this table is based on an ambient temperature of 30° C (86° F).

As an example, the maximum ampacity of one 24 AWG category 5e conductor, mechanically rated to 60° C and contained within a bundle of 62-91 cables, is 400 mA (800 mA per pair). Since the IEEE P802.3bt Type 4 90W application specifies a supported current of 948mA per pair, this example product and installation configuration would not be compliant to the NEC requirements for support of this application. To overcome this restriction, the NEC provides a provision to use a limited power or LP-rated cable jacket to support increased ampacity. Another alternative allowed by the NEC is to use cables having larger diameter conductors and/or a higher temperature rating to reach the desired ampacity capability.

Siemon recommends the use of its shielded category 6A and category 7_A cables (having 23 AWG and 22 AWG sized conductors, respectively) for support of 60W and higher power applications because these cables offer the same application support capability as LP-rated cables with the added benefits of greater heat dissipation, power efficiency, bandwidth, and noise immunity. Note that these cables are mechanically rated to 75° C (167° F) and, according to the NEC table (refer to the cells highlighted in yellow), are suitable for support of at least 500 mA per conductor/ 1 A per pair current levels in bundle configurations of up to 192 cables in 30° C (86° F) ambient temperature environments. Siemon has developed bundling recommendations for a much broader range of ambient temperatures. Following these bundling guidelines ensures that an -LP rated cable is not required to support greater than 60W applications within the environments for which Siemon cables are rated.

It is well understood that deploying 30 W and higher remote powering applications, such as Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Power over HDBaseT (POH), over balanced twisted-pair cabling produces a small degree of heat build-up within bundled horizontal cables. This heat build-up does not affect safety, but can affect transmission performance and long-term mechanical reliability. This can vary over differing cable categories and constructions as, for example, cables with larger conductors inherently have less heat build-up due to lower resistance and cables with metallic elements have less heat build-up due to superior heat dissipation properties. Different pathway styles (e.g., conduit versus free air) can also affect heat build-up within cable bundles.

Managing cable bundle size is important to ensure that heat build-up does not exceed the mechanical rating of the cables and that appropriate channel length de-rating is applied to offset additional insertion loss due to increased ambient temperature. While ISO/IEC TS 29125 and TIA TSB-184-A address recommendations for cabling supporting remote powering applications, these technical bulletins are generic in nature and not directly applicable to Siemon cables, which, depending on cable type, can support higher mechanical temperature ratings and offer superior heat dissipation.

The table below depicts recommended bundle sizes for Siemon horizontal cables supporting a variety of remote powering applications. Note that these bundling recommendations are applicable to cables installed in all pathway types, so they are more conservative than would be specified for cables in free air (i.e. non-conduit) installations. Consult the infrastructure design experts at Siemon for information on bundle size recommendations for cables installed in open pathways.

When in doubt about cable mechanical or heat dissipation capability, installation environment, or remote powering application, a conservative practice is to limit maximum bundle size to 24 cables. With the exception of the few instances noted below, this easy to remember practice addresses the majority of media, environmental, and application scenarios.