Tech Primer

Cat 7

Continued from last week

Video-on-Demand and Broadband Video are expected to revolutionise business. The ability to provide training to employees at their desktops on-demand will maximise the training experience. Users will have the ability to stop and start training sessions, rewind and review or skip parts that are not pertinent or already known. With the savings from travel expenses and lost productivity during travel the RoI for these systems is relatively short.

Video phones have been around for quite a while and the technology has advanced with better compression algorithms and streaming media. These phones operate over a single cabling pair. Newer versions are wireless, which frees up the phone cabling pair for other applications.

More IP applications

Video surveillance is rapidly growing as companies work to protect their human assets as well as physical and data assets. In addition to transmitting video signals, cameras can now be powered over Ethernet pairs. The ability to run multiple cameras over a single cabling channel provides multiple configuration options. It is possible to add audio to the surveillance through one of the cable pairs. In sensitive areas, this can provide an additional level of security that video alone cannot accomplish. An additional pair could also be used for biometric authentication (i.e. iris or fingerprint scanning) and access control.

Building automation systems are now capable of being implemented over one structured cabling system and provide for a single integrated management solution. This allows for fire, life and safety systems, surveillance, HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning) systems and other building functions to be run over the same cabling channels that typically support voice and data.

In medical environments, the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard was created by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association as a format for viewing medical images. As X-rays pass into oblivion, newer devices provide digital images, which can be viewed and manipulated via computers rather than being printed on film. These digital images will only grow larger in size as technology advances in this area requiring higher bandwidth and throughput.

The ability to provide a shielded solution in these environments allows an additional level of data protection by isolating the cabling channel from any noise emitted by the medical scanning equipment. Data centres and storage area networks are also becoming more sophisticated. Live redundancy is mandated by some governments for key sectors and is readily being adopted by others. Data stores are growing exponentially in size and the first 10 Gbps standard was due to be adopted last month by the IEEE providing 10 Gbps transfer rates over twinax cabling for short distances. Work has already begun on a 10 Gbps standard for twisted pair cabling.

Category 7 / Class F cabling already meets the need for these speeds today and is expected to be a recognised industry standard for supporting 10Gb/s over a full 100 meter, 4-connector copper channel. Being able to provide multiple services through a single cable channel saves labour and material cost by reducing the number of cables pulled, fewer outlets and patch panels needed, less rack space is required reducing the real estate requirements of telecom closets and data centres. This can add up quickly in large installations or densely populated areas such as call centres and customer service centres.

In one case study, a company realised a savings of 66 per cent in cabling materials, 50 percent in labour, and gained 332 sq m of floor space because of the savings in racks and terminations in their equipment room. With these savings, there was plenty of money left over to run a dark fibre to every desktop for future expansion.

Concluded