Siemon’s Stance on White Paper Titled, “Suitability of Category 7A/Class FA As A Future Proofing Media For 40 Gbps Applications”
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The purpose of this document is to communicate Siemon’s position in response to a recent paper from a competitor titled, “Suitability of Category 7A/Class FA As A “Future Proofing Media For 40 Gbps Applications,” dated April 2012. This document also conveys Siemon’s interpretation of standards activities relating to suitability of class FA cabling (comprised of category 7A components) for future networking applications having transmission rates above 10Gbps.
The TIA TR-42.7 Baseline Objectives for Next Generation Cabling identify the characteristic, “must exceed the TIA category 6A specification in at least 1 parameter” as “nice to have”. Furthermore, the IEC/PAS 61076-3-104 Standard, which describes the performance of the Siemon TERA™ interface, is being updated to support frequencies up to 2 GHz. Because class FA exceeds all category 6A specifications for every transmission parameter, class FA cabling is better positioned to support extended lengths, reduced latency, and reduced power consumption than any other copper media type, when a 40Gbps application is finally approved. In the absence of application objectives or an IEEE 802.3 40Gbps call-for-interest (CFI), no one, including Siemon, can make definitive claims about the ability of specific twisted-pair cabling implementations to reliably support transmission rates up to or beyond 40Gbps at this time. Our position on the inaccurate statements included in the competitor paper regarding class FA cabling is provided below:
In summary:
- Siemon’s class FA compliant TERA™ solution is the highest performing copper system on the market (globally) and, as such, is better positioned to support future and emerging applications than any other copper balanced twisted-pair media type.
- Screened and fully-shielded systems offer power-saving advantages to PHY developers.
- Hybrid cords are approved and commonly used in both copper and optical fiber cabling systems. The RJ-45 plugs at the channel ends are used for equipment connections and are not part of the TIA and ISO/IEC channel models.
- Siemon participates heavily in standards development and is conservative in our statements and performance claims.