Electical Contractor

TIA Subcommittee TR-42.3, responsible for developing recommendations for pathways and spaces, recently approved Addendum 6 to TIA/EIA-569-A, officially called ANSI/TIA/EIA-569-A-6 Multi-tenant Pathways and Spaces Addendum.

Well, we’ve heard it all before—fiber to the desktop (FTTD) is on its way to becoming the power source of choice. While unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cabling has been dominant, there is reason to think fiber will be a true competitor soon.

CODE CITATIONS Article 110 Requirements for Electrical Installations Article 210 Branch Circuits Article 250 Grounding Article 310 Conductors for General Wiring Article 404 Switches Article 408 Switchboards and Panelboards Article 670 Industrial Machinery Branch circuit for refrigerator in dwelling

CODE CITATIONS Article 100—Definitions Article 210—Branch Circuits Article 230—Services Article 695—Fire Pumps Article 725—Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3 Remote-Control, Signaling, and Power-Limited Circuits Article 760—Fire Alarm Systems Article 770—Optical Fiber Cables and Raceways Article 800—Comm

CODE CITATIONS Article 100—Definitions Article 225—Outside Branch Circuits and Feeders Article 230—Services Article 250—Grounding Article 310—Conductors for General Wiring Article 320—Armored Cable: Type AC Article 430—Motors, Motor Circuits, and Controllers Article 445—Generators Article 518—Places

The first Category 6 application has been approved and published as of June 2001. It is an alternate transmission scheme for 1Gigabit Ethernet taking advantage of the increased bandwidth offered by Category 6 cabling systems.

In the May 2001 Electrical Contractor, my article mentioned that a high laser-bandwidth 50-micron fiber was being considered for use for LANs less than 300 meters in length. So where does it stand, now that five months has past?

In 1993, TIA approved and published TIA/EIA-606 Administration Standard for the Telecommunications Infrastructure of Commercial Buildings. This standard has received limited market acceptance, possibly for two reasons. First, TIA/EIA-606 provides few concrete requirements.

With the approval of TIA/EIA -568-B.2—Part 2: Balanced Twisted-Pair Cabling Components at the March 2001 meeting of TIA, all three standards making up the TIA/EIA-568-B Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling Standard are approved and published.