Network Infrastructure Blog

Siemon recommends that two or more category 6A or higher rated shielded channels, deployed as part of an overall zone cabling configuration, are provided to every 802.11ac access point connection for three very important reasons:

1.  TSB-162-A, “Telecommunications Cabling Guidelines for Wireless Access Points”, expressly provides the following recommendation and note:

Cabling for wireless access points should be balanced twisted-pair, category 6A or higher, as specified in ANSI/TIA-568-C.2, or two-fiber multimode optical fiber cable, OM3 or higher, as specified in ANSI/TIA-568-C.3.

NOTE – The use of category 6A (or higher) twisted-pair and OM3 (or higher) optical fiber cabling is recommended to support higher data rates and, in the case of twisted-pair cabling, lower temperature rise when remote power is applied.

2.  As highlighted in the TIA note, temperature rise resulting from Type 2 PoE used to power 802.11ac access points should be considered.  Shielded cabling, which has superior heat dissipation properties compared to UTP cabling, significantly reduces or eliminates concerns of excessive temperature build-up in cable bundles, especially for cable bundles installed in hot environments.  The use of solid equipment cords, which exhibit better thermal stability and lower insertion loss than stranded conductor cords, is recommended for access point connections for this same reason.

3.  Deploying a minimum of two category 6A shielded channels will support link aggregation of not only today’s 1.3 Gb/s and 2.6 Gb/s 802.11ac implementations, but also future 3.5 Gb/s and higher data rate (Huawei recently achieved a record transmission data rate of 10.53 Gb/s in the 5 GHz frequency band!) implementations.  A zone cabling approach utilizing floor or ceiling enclosures containing consolidation points with spare port capacity, which are positioned in a grid pattern throughout the building space, allows for rapid reconfiguration of wireless coverage areas and provides redundant and future-proof access point connections.

 Refer to the following white papers for more information:

• Killer App Alert!  IEEE 802.11ac 5 GHz Wireless Update and Structured Cabling Implications

• Advantages of Using Siemon Shielded Cabling Systems To Power Remote Network Devices

With four new ISO/IEC and TIA cabling projects under development, it is more confusing than ever to cross reference the two groups’ cabling and component specifications.  This short primer should help.

In ISO/IEC Standards, structured cabling components (e.g. cables, connecting hardware, and patch cords) are characterized by a performance “category” and are mated to form a permanent link or channel that is described by a performance “class”.  In TIA Standards, components and cabling are both characterized by a performance “category”.  ISO/IEC and TIA equivalent grades of cabling, arranged in order of increasingly more stringent transmission performance, are shown below.

Note that ISO/IEC class I/category 8.1 and TIA category 8 will not be electrical supersets of ISO/IEC class F_A/category 7_A.

Data Center and IT professionals: This infographic from Siemon examines the impact of top of rack (ToR) and structured cabling configurations on total management; scalability and upgrades; interoperability; equipment, maintenance and cabling costs; port utilization; power consumption and cooling requirements.  Structured cabling offers clear advantages.

The infographic is based on an actual 39 cabinet data center and the findings of a recent white paper by the Communications Cable and Connectivity Association (CCCA) (“Navigating the Pros and Cons of Structured Cabling vs. Top of Rack in the Data Center“).

Data Center Planning Resources:

• Read white paper “Navigating the Pros and Cons of Structured Cabling vs. Top of Rack in the Data Center” by the Communications Cable and Connectivity Association (CCCA)
• Learn about Siemon Data Centers Solutions.  Siemon has focused its cabling expertise into a global data center service team, capable of guiding you through the process of selecting, designing and deploying the business-critical cabling infrastructure upon which your entire data center will rely.

Siemon, a leading global network infrastructure specialist, is pleased to announce that John Siemon, CTO and vice president of global operations, was recently named one of the recipients of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) 2013 Leadership and Service Awards, which recognizes individuals for their significant contributions to national and international standardization activities, as well as ongoing commitment to their industry, their nation and the enhancement of the global voluntary consensus standards system.

Left to Right: James Pauley Chairman, ANSI Board of directors; John Siemon, CTO & VP Global Operations, The Siemon Company; Florence Otieno, Sr. Manager, International Standards, Telecommunications Industry Association; Herb Congdon, Associate VP, Technology & Standards, Telecommunications Industry Association

As the voice of the U.S. standards and conformity assessment system, ANSI oversees the creation, promulgation and use of thousands of norms and guidelines that directly impact businesses in nearly every sector. ANSI is also actively engaged in accrediting programs that assess conformance to standards, including globally-recognized cross-sector programs such as the ISO 9000 (quality) and ISO 14000 (environmental) management systems-both of which Siemon is proud to be certified.

As part of their 2013 Leadership and Service Awards, ANSI awarded John Siemon with the Astin-Polk International Standards Medal, which honors distinguished service in promoting trade and understanding among nations through the advancement, development or administration of international standardization, measurements or certification. The award was well deserved-as Siemon’s CTO, John oversees the company’s technology roadmap, intellectual property, and global membership and participation on standards bodies and trade organizations such as ANSI, ISO, IEC, CENELEC, IEEE, TIA, Ethernet Alliance, BICSI, US Green Building Council, CCCA and SDOs in a number of other countries.

Since joining the Siemon Company in 1985, John has also held a number of leadership positions, including Chairman of the TIA TR42.1 subcommittee responsible for commercial IT cabling; Chairman of BICSI’s Technical Information and Methods Committee; current Chairman of the US Advisory Group on Interconnection of Information Technology Equipment (ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 25); and Project Leader and Editor for U.S. and international standards publications covering multiple generations of twisted-pair and optical fiber infrastructure used for voice and data connections throughout the world. He has also been featured in several global industry trade publications.

John Siemon was responsible for establishing the Siemon Company’s Development Engineering and R&D Laboratory. Since taking responsibility for Siemon’s Operations in 2002, John has expanded the company’s global supply chain capabilities with new manufacturing and logistics locations around the world. He is also the current Executive Vice President of the Yale Science and Engineering Association and holds more than 50 U.S. patents in the field of telecommunications cabling.

ANSI will honor John Siemon and the other 17 distinguished award recipients during an October 2 ceremony held in conjunction with World Standards Week 2013 in Washington, DC.

Portland, OR.  During last week’s TIA meetings, the TR-42.7 Copper Cabling Subcommittee accepted the concept of adding ISO/IEC Class II cabling performance criteria into its pending ANSI/TIA‑568‑C.2-1 category 8 project.  The Subcommittee also agreed to create a task group, which will be co-chaired Brian Celella of Siemon and Frank Straka of Panduit, to work on developing this criteria.

Here are answers to some common questions concerning this exciting new initiative.

What is ISO/IEC Class II cabling?  Class II is the name of the new ISO/IEC grade of cabling that will be constructed from fully-shielded ISO/IEC category 8.2 cords, cables, and connecting hardware.   Both class II and category 8.2 specifications are targeted to support the 40GBASE-T application over a distance of at least 30m and are under development by the ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 25/WG 3 Working Group.  Category 8.2 components will be an extension and superset of existing category 7_A components.

What connector interface will support this new TIA cabling?  The connecting hardware interface to support this new level of cabling has not yet been specified by TIA.  However, it is the opinion of the cabling experts at Siemon that the 8-position RJ-45 modular interface does not exhibit sufficient performance margin to support new requirements based upon ISO/IEC class II cabling.  Fully-shielded balanced twisted-pair connecting hardware characterized to 2 GHz, such as the IEC 61076-3-104 (e.g. Siemon TERA®) interface that is already standardized by ISO/IEC, would be ideal to support this new TIA level of cabling.

What are the implications of this new TIA initiative?  By accepting the concept of adding class II performance criteria and creating a task group to work on these limits, TIA is demonstrating that North American standards development organizations are ready to embrace fully-shielded cabling systems.  This is a strong and positive step towards global harmonization of the full suite of available IT network structured cabling solutions.