The original DataMax 6E Assembler Partner Program instructed cable assemblers how to manufacture and fully test patch cords to comply with the TIA’s Category 6 patch cord test procedure (TIA/EIA-568-B.2-1, Annex J).  Annex J defines a true “component level” procedure, defining the test requirements for a patch cord alone.  Within the TIA standards, an Annex is a normative or required part of the main standard. 

Previously, many assemblers either did not test cords at all or qualified them by inserting cords into a Category 6 permanent link, creating a channel.  They then performed a channel test.  Their logic was if the channel met Cat 6 requirements, the cord must also.  However, test data shows that if a Cat 6 permanent link has a high degree of passing margin, a non-compliant cord may allow a passing channel, but the channel’s performance has been degraded.  Compliant Cat 6 cords result in optimum channel performance.

DataMax 6E Cords and Assemblers

The DM 6E Assembler Program originally resulted from market need and a Quabbin Test Program that proved most open-market cords labeled Category 5e or Category 6 did not meet the TIA’s published requirements.  The test data showed that 69.8% of Category 5e cords and 83% of Category 6 cords were not compliant.

Assembler Partners use Fluke Networks’ newest patch cord test adapter and their DSP Series Cable Analyzer to perform cord testing.  For reference, the most critical test requirements for patch cords are defined in 568-B.2.1 paragraph 7.2.1.3 for NEXT and paragraph 7.4.4 for return loss.

These patch cords are constructed using Quabbin’s DataMax 6 stranded bulk cable, a true Category 6 plug with a wire management load-bar, plus controlled assembly and packaging techniques.  The result is a cord with optimized attenuation, crosstalk and impedance; a tuned construction that closely matches the characteristics of today’s best performing Category 6 horizontal cables.  The electrical performance of these cords is so good that many Cat 6 channels actually demonstrate improved high frequency response and increased performance margin using these cords.

But, industry standards have evolved to even higher requirements.  The TIA recently defined an “Augmented” Category 6 channel, termed Cat 6A.  This new copper channel will transmit 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GBase-T) as defined by the IEEE 802.3 committee.  Successful transmission depends on minimizing Alien Crosstalk (AXT).  Patch cords are critical to limiting this newly defined cable-to-cable noise.  Quabbin’s newest patch cable, DataMax 10Gig, provides extraordinary suppression of this new noise.  Stranded DataMax 10G cable is now being used by DataMax 6E assemblers to produce this next generation flexible patch cord.

Industrial Ethernet (IE) represents another new market for Quabbin’s Assembler Partners.  Ethernet signaling is migrating from the Enterprise and Office environment to the factory and process plant.  10Base-T and 100Base-T Ethernet is replacing much slower industrial control systems, but the cabling must be hardened to survive very harsh conditions.  For these environments cords are constructed using DataMax Extreme cable and a new breed of durable connectors.  Click here for more information on these IE assemblies.

Contact Quabbin’s Sales Department (800/368-3311) at 10 Maple Street, Ware, MA 01082-1597 to find a DataMax 6E Assembler Partner in your area, or Click here.

To comment on this article, e-mail engineering@quabbin.com.