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ARM Networks
Voice and Data Infrastructure Solutions
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Whether installing new cable, or troubleshooting existing cable, ethernet network cable testing plays an important role in the process. Common network tests for datacom cabling include length, wiremap, attenuation, NEXT, DC loop resistance, and return loss.
As networks evolve, so do the requirements of the cabling infrastructure to support them. New network cabling standards are continuously being developed to provide guidelines for cabling professionals when installing, testing, troubleshooting, and certifying either copper and fiber cable network. Whether it's 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX or 1000BASE-T, there are specific requirements and potential pitfalls in implementing these technologies. With 10GBASE-T, it becomes even more critical to keep current with the latest proliferations in ethernet cabling and network cable testing.
Network cable testing provides a level of assurance that the installed cabling links provide the desired transmission capability to support the data communication desired by the users.
As networks evolve, so do the requirements of the cabling infrastructure to support them. New network cabling standards are continuously being developed to provide guidelines for cabling professionals when installing, testing, troubleshooting, and certifying either copper and fiber cable network. Whether it's 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX or 1000BASE-T, there are specific requirements and potential pitfalls in implementing these technologies. With 10GBASE-T, it becomes even more critical to keep current with the latest proliferations in ethernet cabling and network cable testing.
Network cable testing provides a level of assurance that the installed cabling links provide the desired transmission capability to support the data communication desired by the users.
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Levels of Network Cable Testing
Cable Certification Testers – guarantees cabling system compliance to industry standards
Certification instruments are the only tools that provide “Pass” or “Fail” information in accordance with industry standards. In North America, the prevalent industry standards organization dealing with the transmission capabilities of structured cabling is the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA). In international markets, the Electro-technical commission of the International Organization for Standards (ISO/IEC) creates and maintains standards for telecommunication cabling.
Certification test tools determine whether a link is compliant with a category (TIA) or class (ISO); for example, category 6 or class E. These standards are independent of specific network technologies. This makes them more “future proof” because new network technologies can emerge that base their designs on these standards and would therefore be supported by the certified installed cabling. Cable certification is the final step required by many structured cabling manufacturers to grant their warranties for a new cabling installation.
Cable Qualification Testers – determines if an existing cabling link can support certain network speeds and technologies
Qualification testers meet the needs of network technicians who do not install new cabling, but need to troubleshoot operating networks. Qualification testers perform tests that decide whether an existing cabling link will support the requirements for “Fast Ethernet” (100BASE-TX), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), or Gigabit Ethernet. These test tools furthermore allow the network technician to quickly isolate cabling problems from network protocol or addressing problems. Qualification test tools, include all the capabilities of verification test tools but they are more powerful in that they perform an assessment of the cabling bandwidth and identify defects that affect the bandwidth. Qualification testers do not execute the battery of tests prescribed by the standards to be considered a “certification tool.”
Cable Verification Testers – verifies that cable is connected correctly
Verification test tools perform basic continuity functions, they assure that all wires in a cabling link are connected to the proper termination points and not to any other conductors. In twisted pair cabling, it is critical to maintain the proper pairing of the wires. Better verification test tools also verify wire pairing and detect installation defects like “split pairs”. Verification test tools may also assist in troubleshooting by providing a toner to locate a cabling link. Verification tools sometimes include additional features such as a Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR) to determine length of a cable or distance to a break or short circuit. These test tools do not provide any information on bandwidth or suitability for high-speed data communication.
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Fiber Optic Testing
Fiber optics cabling is the core of today's datacom networks. Optical fiber is the predominant media type for mission-critical datacenter links, backbone within buildings, and longer distances for campus networks. As network speeds and bandwidth demands increase, distance and loss limitations have decreased, making fiber optic cabling certification testing more important than ever.
Inspecting Fiber Optic Cable for Light Loss
For decades, fiber optics have been inspected and cleaned to ensure the proper passage of light. While fiber optics inspection and cleaning fiber connectors is not new, it is growing in importance as links with increasingly higher data rates are driving decreasingly small loss budgets. With less tolerance for overall light loss, the attenuation through adapters must be lower than ever before. This can be achieved by properly inspecting and cleaning fiber optic cables when they are installed or while making moves, or changes.
There are two types of problems that will cause loss as light leaves one end-face and enters another inside an adapter: contamination and damage.
Dust, oils and water blocking gel are common forms of fiber connector end-face contamination. Simply touching the ferrule will immediately deposit body oil on the end-face, and cause unacceptable attenuation once connection are made. Dust and small static-charged particles float through the air and can land on any exposed termination. This can be especially true in facilities undergoing construction or renovation. In new installations, buffer gel and pulling lube can easily find its way onto an end-face.
Fiber optic cable damage appears as a scratch, pit, crack, or chip. These end-face surface defects could be the result of poor termination or mated contamination. Deciding to mate every connection first and then inspecting only those that fail is a risky approach as the physical contact of mated contaminants can cause permanent damage. This permanent damage would require more costly and time consuming re-termination or replacement of pre-terminated links.
From the first days of fiber optic cabling, stereo bench top microscopes were used to inspect fiber optic end-faces. Over time, smaller, portable microscopes were designed to easily test fiber cable. Microscopes can be divided into two basic groupings: opticaland video. Optical microscopes incorporate an objective lens and an eyepiece lens to allow you to view the end-face directly through the device. Video microscopes incorporate both an optical probe and a display for viewing the probe’s image. Probes are designed to be small so that they can reach ports in hard-to-access places. The screens allow images to be expanded for easier identification of contaminants and damage. Because the end-face is viewed on a screen instead of directly, probes minimize the chance of a harmful laser light reaching a person’s eye.
Cleaning Fiber Optic Cables
Because cleaning has been part of fiber optic cable maintenance for years, most people have their own approaches for cleaning end-faces, including some suboptimal approaches such as blasting the fiber optic cable with canned air, or using Isopropyl alcohol (IPA). Fiber-specific solvents are superior at dissolving virtually any contaminate lurking on a fiber end-face and have tailored evaporation rates that give them time to work yet disappear before mating. The most basic tools used are wipes and swabs used to clean patch cords and inside ports, respectively. Convenient fiber optic cleaning kits include all the solvent and cleaning equipment one needs for precision end-face cleaning.
Fiber Optics Testing: Troubleshooting, Verification, and Certification
Fiber optic testers include tools and equipment to perform basic inspection and cleaning, basic troubleshooting and verification testers, certification testers, and advanced OTDR testers for troubleshooting and analysis of existing fiber optic cabling.
For simple fiber optic cable troubleshooting and verification testers, the light source and power meter solutions work together to measure multimode and singlemode fiber loss. This fiber optic cable troubleshooting tool has built-in results storage and automatic wavelength synchronization save time and prevent errors.
Certification of new fiber optic cabling per IEEE, TIA/EIA, or ISO/IEC standards is necessary to ensure that the link will run the intended application. Complete fiber optic cabling certification includes two parts; Tier 1 or Basic Test Regimen and Tier 2 or Extended Test Regimen. Tier 1 fiber optic cabling certification is performed with a power meter and light source or optical loss test to measure the absolute loss of the link and compare it to the limits in the standard. Tier 2 fiber optic cabling certification and troubleshooting can be performed with an OTDR.
Certification of fiber optic cable links requires the right testing equipment, detailed knowledge of installation and application standards, and the ability to document your test results.
