ISO/IEC 11801

International standard ISO/IEC 11801 specifies general-purpose telecommunication cabling systems (structured cabling) that are suitable for a wide range of applications (analog and ISDN telephony, various data communication standards, building control systems, factory automation). It covers both balanced copper cabling and optical fibre cabling. The standard was designed for use within commercial premises that may consist of either a single building or of multiple buildings on a campus. It was optimized for premises that span up to 3 km, up to 1 km² office space, with between 50 and 50,000 persons, but can also be applied for installations outside this range. A corresponding standard for small-office/home-office (SOHO) environments is ISO/IEC 15018, which also covers 1.2 GHz links for cable and satellite TV applications.

Link and channel classes
The standard defines several classes of twisted-pair copper interconnects, which differ in the maximum frequency for which a certain channel performance is required:

 

  • Class D: up to 100 MHz using elements category 5e
  • Class E: up to 250 MHz using elements category 6
  • Class EA: up to 500 MHz using elements category 6A (Amendment 1 to ISO/IEC 11801, 2nd Ed.)
  • Class F: up to 600 MHz using elements category 7
  • Class FA: up to 1000 MHz using elements category 7A (Amendment 1 to ISO/IEC 11801, 2nd Ed.)

 

The standard link impedance is 100 Ω. (The older 1995 version of the standard also permitted 120 Ω and 150 Ω in classes A−C, but this was removed from the 2002 edition.)


BS EN 50174 series. Information technology. Cabling installation

The importance of the information technology cabling infrastructure is similar to that of other fundamental building utilities such as heating, lighting and mains power supplies. As with other utilities, interruptions to service can have serious impact. Poor quality of service due to lack of planning, use of inappropriate components, incorrect installation, poor administration or inadequate support can threaten an organisation’s effectiveness.
There are four phases in the successful installation of information technology cabling. These are:

  • Design - the selection of cabling components and their configuration
  • Specification - the detailed requirement for the cabling, its accommodation and associated building services addressing specific environment(s) identified within the premises together with the quality assurance requirements to be applied
  • Implementation - the physical installation in accordance with the requirements of the specification
  • Operation - the management of connectivity and the maintenance of transmission performance during the life of the cabling.

BS EN 50174 is a European Standard in three parts and addresses the specification, implementation and operational aspects. The design issues are covered in series BS EN 50173 and / or other application standards. BS EN 50174-1 is intended to be used by personnel during the specification phase of the installation together with those responsible for the quality planning and operation of the installation. It contains requirements and guidance for the specification and quality assurance of the information technology cabling by defining:

 

  • aspects to be addressed during the specification of the cabling
  • Quality assurance documentation and procedures
  • Requirements for the documentation and administration of cabling
  • Recommendations for repair and maintenance.

Parts 2 and 3 of BS EN 50174 are intended to be used by the personnel directly involved in the implementation phase of the installation. BS EN 50174-2 is applicable inside buildings and BS EN 50174-3 is applicable outside buildings.

BS EN 50174-3 contains detailed requirements and guidance relating to the installation planning and practices by defining:

  • Planning strategy (road map) and guidance depending on the application and physical environment (e.g. climatic; mechanical; electromagnetic)
  • Design and installation rules for metallic and optical fibre cabling depending on the application e.g. electromagnetic environment; physical environment
  • Requirements on satisfactory operation of the cabling depending on the application e.g. electromagnetic environment; physical environment
  • The practices and procedures to be adopted to ensure that the cabling is installed in accordance with the specification.