KEY TEST PARAMETERS
Horizontal
terminates at a wall outlet on one end, and a patch panel on the other end
Backbone
terminates at a patch panel on both ends
Indoor
fully enclosed inside a building
Outdoor
extends past a building’s outside wall
Horizontal links:
are typically indoor-only links
may include a consolidation point (CP)
Backbone links could be:
indoor
outdoor
If testing a combination of horizontal and backbone links in the same test, the link should be considered to be a backbone link
Indoor links can use fibers rated as indoor, outdoor, or indoor/outdoor
Outdoor links must use fibers rated as outdoor or indoor/outdoor
FIBER TYPE - Link Types
AP
EF
ER
MC
IC
TR
TE
HC
WA
CP
WA
WA
WA
WA
WA
WA
WA
WA
ER
HC
HC
CP
TR
Building 1
Building 2
Cabling Legend
Backbone (Cabling Subsystem 3)
Backbone (Cabling Subsystem 2)
Horizontal (Cabling Subsystem 1)
Diagram adapted from
ANSI/TIA-568-C.1
Figure 2 - Representative model for a
commercial building telecommunications
cabling system
Legend
AP
Access provider
EF
Entrance facility
ER
Equipment room
MC
Main cross-connect (Distributor C)
IC
Intermediate cross-connect (Distributor B)
TR
Telecommunications room
TE
Telecommunications enclosure
HC
Horizontal cross-connect (Distributor A)
WA
Work Area
Telecommunications outlet/connector (equipment outlet)
Cross-connect
CP
Consolidation point
22