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Category 6 Channel Power Sum ACR Measurements and
Patch Cord Interoperability

The Category 6 specification has issued. Actual Channel Power Sum ACR (PSACR) measurements prove that Cat 6 hardware provides much more performance than Category 5e. Independent testing also shows that DataMax® 6 patch cords are interoperable with many Premise OEMS’ Cat 6 premise channels.

The TIA/EIA 568-B.2-1 addendum defining Category 6 requirements is now approved. Category 6 networks will provide end users the potential to operate future protocols well beyond 100Base–T Ethernet and even beyond Gigabit Ethernet.

The new specification defines component, link, and channel performance levels significantly better than Category 5e (doubling the available bandwidth). Cat 6 LANs are to be backward compatible with the lower Categories plus Cat 6 components are also intended to be interoperable from one manufacturer to others.

To illustrate interoperability and just how good actual Category 6 channels can be, some Channel test data from ETL is included below. The test lab measured Power Sum Attenuation to Crosstalk Ratio (PSACR) data on installed Category 6 channels. PSACR is a critical channel signal to noise measurement that is widely used to compare LAN relative performance. As long as PSACR remains positive, signal strength is greater than noise. The Category 5e and Category 6 channel PSACR specification limits cross zero at 100 and 200 MHz respectively.

The channels that ETL measured consisted of specific Premise OEM’s hardware, a consolidation point, 295 feet of their preferred horizontal cable, and three Quabbin DataMax 6 cords totaling 30 feet. The data above shows that at 250 MHz, the channel’s worst pair maintains 6.4 dB of positive performance and the average of all 4-pairs is 10.8 dB. For reference, at 250 MHz the Category 6 channel requirement is negative 5.7 dB, so the worst pair performance is 12.1 dB better than the requirement. This is a huge performance margin in excess of the Category 6 specification minimum.

ETL then tested 4 different OEM’s Category 6 channels, but substituted Quabbin’s DataMax 6 cords for the proprietary system cords. All channels achieved positive PSACR beyond 250 MHz. This test data proved that DataMax 6 cords are Interoperable with many Category 6 premise systems.

DataMax 6 cords are constructed using Quabbin’s newest Category 6 stranded bulk cable, a Category 6 plug with a wire management load-bar, and controlled assembly techniques. All these elements are important, however Quabbin’s newly developed stranded cable is the critical component. The cable has optimized attenuation, crosstalk and impedance, creating a tuned construction that closely matches the characteristics of today’s best performing horizontal cables. Channel performance is optimized at high frequencies.

If you would like to see more PSACR premise Channel test data or learn more about these remarkable cords, contact your local Quabbin Representative or Quabbin’s Sales department.

If you would like to comment on this article, please e-mail engineering@quabbin.com.