2023 Structured Cabling Glossary and Terminology

What is 1000BASE-T?

Ethernet for 1000 Mb/s (1 Gb/s) using 4 pairs of Category 5 cables.

What is 100BASE-T?

Fast 100 Mb/s Ethernet using 4-pair Category 3 cable.

What is 10BASE-T?

Ethernet for 10 Mb/s using 2 pairs of Category 3 cables.

What is ASCII Architecture?

It is a network topology with a switch for bandwidths wide.

What is Attenuation?

The effect of diminishing or losing a signal is experienced with the cumulative length of the line or the distance of the radio transmission.

What is Backboard?

A plywood panel mounted to the wall of a telecommunications room. It is used for the assembly of telecommunications equipment.

What is Backbone Cabling?

It extends from the main Telecommunications closet (Cross-Connect Principal) to the secondary telecommunications closets, it includes the connection hardware dedicated to the vertical cabling and the cables that join them.

What is Balun?

An adapter is used to convert balanced signals to unbalanced signals to connect legacy (or vintage) equipment or video devices to structured cabling.

What is BNC (Bayonet-Neill-Concelman) Connector?

Commonly used connector for coaxial cable. After insertion, the plug is turned, squeezing the pins into the socket.

What is BUS in Structured Cabling?

It consists of a common transmission path and has a series of built-in nodes. It is sometimes called linear network topology.

What is a Channel Structured Cabling?

End-to-end transmission path that connects any two application-specific pieces of equipment. Equipment cables and work area cables are included in the raceway.

What is Consolidation Point?

The interconnection point is located in the horizontal cabling that is generally used to support the rearrangement of furnished spaces.

What is a Crimping Tool?

It is the tool that is used to build the Patch Cord cables from the PC to the network point or from the Patch Panel to the Hub. It connects the RJ-45 Plugs with the eight wires of the UTP cable.

What is Cross-Connect (XC)?

It allows the elements of a cable and their connections to be terminated, basically with flexible connection conductors, or jumpers.

What is Data Termination Equipment (DTE)?

It is the term used to describe any type of computer or equipment when connected to a data communication network.

What is Delay Skew?

The difference in propagation delay between the slowest and fastest pairs in a cable. Delay skew is caused by cables of different lengths within twisted pair cables.

What is ELFEXT (Equal Level Far End Crosstalk)?

A measure of unwanted electrical noise from a transmitter (near the end) on a neighboring wire pair measured at the far end, relative to the received signal measured on the same pair.

What is Ethernet?

LAN was originally developed by DEC, Xerox, and Intel. It uses the CSMA/CD protocol.

What is EIA/TIA?

North American Standards Organization.

What is EIA/TIA 568B?

Telecommunications cabling standard for commercial buildings in North America.

What is EIA/TIA 569A?

Telecommunication space and track cabling standard for commercial buildings in North America. Its purpose is to standardize specific construction designs and practices within and between buildings that support media and telecommunications equipment.

What is EIA/TIA 606?

Management standard for telecommunications infrastructure in commercial buildings in North America. Its purpose is to offer guidelines for a uniform administration scheme for the cabling infrastructure.

What is FEXT (Far End Crosstalk)?

Unwanted electrical noise from a transmitter (near the end) on a neighboring wire pair measured at the far end.

What is Fiber Channel?

ANSI standard that describes the point-to-point and interpoints physical interface, transmission protocol, signaling protocol, services, and mapping command set of a high-performance serial link for use between mainframe computers and their peripherals.

What is Generic Cabling?

It is a telecommunications structured cabling system capable of supporting a wide range of applications. Generic cabling can be installed without knowing what the required applications are.

What is Hybrid Cabling?

Set of two or more different types of cable units, cables, or categories covered by a general coating. It can be covered, in turn, by a complete shield.

What is Horizontal Cabling?

connects a floor distributor with one or several telecommunications connection points.

What is a Jumper in Structured Cabling?

A unit or element of cable that does not have connectors and is used to make crossover connections.

What is LAN (Local Area Network)?

The interconnection of computers and peripherals to form a network within a business or home is usually limited to one building.

What is MAC (Moves Adds and Changes)?

When users change locations on the network. Refers to data and voice networks.

What is MT-RJ?

Small duplex fiber optic connector that resembles an RJ-45 connector.

What is Monomode (Singlemode)?

Optical fiber with a small diameter core where only a single mode can propagate. The standard core size is 8.3 microns.

What is Multimode?

Optical fiber has a large central sector and allows non-axial rays or modes to propagate along the core.

What is a Multi-user outlet (MUTOA)?

Or “Multi-User Telecommunications Outlet Array”, is a grouping of telecommunications outlets that serves several individual work areas.

What is NEXT (Near End Crosstalk)?

Performance parameters measured within a single link/channel. Measures the signal coupled from one pair to another.

What is NIC (Network Interface Card)?

Important hardware components are used to provide network connections.

What is an Outlet?

A partition that provides a point of connection to power, telephone, or network services.

What is Patch Cord?

A short cable with a plug at each end is used to make a crossover connection.

What is Patch Panel?

The panel, usually rack-mountable, contains the connection hardware for joining multiple cables.

What is PBX (Private Branch Exchange)?

A device that provides private voice and voice switching services in the private network.

What is Power Sum?

The only method for testing and measuring crosstalk in multi-pair cables that calculates the sum of crosstalk affecting one pair when all other pairs are active is to specify crosstalk performance that is appropriate for the cables made up of more than four pairs.

What is Propagation Delay?

The time it takes for a signal to travel from one point to another through a transmission channel.

What is Punchdown?

A punch block is a mechanism used to connect crossover cable assemblies through a system of metal pinouts in telecommunications closets or local area networks (LANs).

What is a Rack in Structured Cabling?

Base, metal structure, or support whose mission is to house computer systems and telecommunications networks.

What is Return Loss in Structured Cabling?

Measurement of a signal reflected the transmitter as a result of impedance differences in the cabling.

What is an SC Connector?

Push-pull single-channel fiber optic connector.

What is an ST Connector?

Clamp connectors similar to coaxial connectors are usually used in hybrid Ethernet installations between paired cables and fiber optics. Requires a twist of the connector for insertion.

What is Thicknet?

It uses a type of coaxial cable known as Grade 8 Radio, which conforms to the original Xerox Ethernet specification and has a diameter of approximately half an inch (1.27 cm).

What is Thinnet?

It uses a thinner type of coaxial cable known as Radio Grade 58, which is similar to the Radio Grade 6 cable used for cable TV.

What is Token Ring?

LAN standard for 4 or 16 Mb/s based on a pass-through protocol originally developed by IBM. Sometimes referred to as the IEEE 802.5 standard or the ISO 8802-5 standard.

What is Twinaxial Cable ("Twinax")?

Similar to coaxial, the only difference is that the center of the cable contains a twisted pair instead of a single conductor.

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