UTP CABLING SPECIFICATIONS
Page 2-4
2.2.1 UTP Cable Categories
Both UTP concentrator modules (TRXMIM-22A / 24A) support
UTP cables classified as category 3, 4, and 5.
UTP cable is categorized according to the following specifications.
Category 3
consists of (usually) four Unshielded Twisted Pairs of
24 AWG solid wire for data or voice communication. (IBM Type 3
is coincidentally the same as UTP Category 3.) It is typically used to
wire cable runs within the walls of buildings. In some installations,
pre-existing UTP building wiring can be used for Token Ring
cabling.
WARNING:
At 16 Mb/s ring speeds, some Category 3 cable does not meet
the performance requirements of a Token Ring network. This may impose
lower limits on lobe cable distances and ring node counts. See Table 2-2.
Categories 4 and 5
are higher quality versions of category 3. They
use the same gauge of wire but demonstrate superior performance
due to improvements in material quality and assembly (e.g. more
twists per foot).
Table 2-2. UTP Cable Category Specifications
UTP
Cat.
Operating
Frequency
Electrical
Impedance
Signal
Attenuation
per 100m
NEXT
loss
(@
≥
100m)
3
4 MHz
≤
100
Ω
±
15%
≤
5.6 dB
≥
32 dB
16 MHz
≤
100
Ω
±
15%
≤
13.1 dB
≥
23 dB*
4
4 MHz
≤
100
Ω
±
15%
≤
4.3 dB
≥
47 dB
16 MHz
≤
100
Ω
±
15%
≤
8.9 dB
≥
38 dB
5
4 MHz
≤
100
Ω
±
15%
≤
4.3 dB
≥
63 dB
16 MHz
≤
100
Ω
±
15%
≤
8.2 dB
≥
44 dB
*below Token Ring performance requirement of
≥
30.5 dB.
