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2008 RuggedCom Inc. All rights reserved Rev105
4.7 Gigabit Ethernet 1000Base-TX Cabling Recommendations
The IEEE 802.3ab Gigabit Ethernet standard defines 1000 Mbit/s Ethernet communications over
distances of up to 100 meters using 4 pairs of category 5 (or higher) balanced unshielded twisted-
pair cabling. For wiring guidelines, system designers and integrators should refer to the
Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) TIA/EIA-568-A wiring standard that characterizes
minimum cabling performance specifications required for proper Gigabit Ethernet operation. To
ensure reliable, error-free data communications, new and pre-existing communication paths should
be verified for TIA/EIA-568-A compliance. Table 5 summarizes cabling standards available today
Cabling
Category
1000BaseTx
Compliant
Required action
< 5 No
New wire infrastructure required
5 Yes Verify TIA/EIA-568-A compliance
5e Yes
No action required. New installations should be designed with
Category 5e components or higher
6 Yes No action required
> 6 Yes
Connector and cabling standards to be determined.
Table 5: Cabling categories and 1000BaseTx compliance defined.
In general the following recommendations should be followed for copper data cabling in high
electrical noise environments:
• Data cable lengths should be as short as possible, ideally limited to 3m (10ft) in length.
Copper data cables should not be used for inter-building communications.
• Power and data cables should not be run in parallel for long distances, and ideally should be
installed in separate conduits. Power and data cables should intersect at 90° angles when
necessary to reduce inductive coupling.
• Shielded/screened cabling can optionally be used. The cable shield should be grounded at
one single point to avoid the generation of ground loops.
NOTE: RuggedCom does not recommend the use of copper cabling of any length for critical real-
time substation automation applications. However, transient suppression circuitry is present on all
copper ports to protect against damage from electrical transients and to ensure IEC 61850-3 and
IEEE 1613 Class 1 conformance. This means that during the transient event communications
errors or interruptions may occur but recovery is automatic. RuggedCom also does not
recommended to use these ports to interface to field devices across distances which could produce
high levels of ground potential rise, (i.e. greater than 2500V) during line to ground fault conditions.