EN 50173:1995/A1:2000

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-junij-2000
Information technology - Generic cabling systems - Amendment A1
Information technology - Generic cabling systems - Amendment A1
Informationstechnik - Anwendungsneutrale Verkabelungssysteme
Technologies de l'information - Systèmes génériques de câblage
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN 50173:1995/A1:2000
ICS:
33.040.50 Vodi, zveze in tokokrogi Lines, connections and
circuits
35.110 Omreževanje Networking
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EUROPEAN STANDARD EN 50173/A1

NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM January 2000

ICS 33.040.50
English version
Information technology - Generic cabling systems

Technologies de l'information  Informationstechnik Anwendungsneutrale
Systèmes génériques de câblage Verkabelungssysteme

This amendment A1 modifies the European Standard EN 50173:1995; it was approved by CENELEC on
2000-01-01. CENELEC members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which
stipulate the conditions for giving this amendment the status of a national standard without any alteration.

Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on
application to the Central Secretariat or to any CENELEC member.

This amendment exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other
language made by translation under the responsibility of a CENELEC member into its own language and
notified to the Central Secretariat has the same status as the official versions.

CENELEC members are the national electrotechnical committees of Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
Central Secretariat: rue de Stassart 35, B - 1050 Brussels
CENELEC
© 2000 CENELEC - All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved worldwide for CENELEC members.

European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
Ref. No. EN 50173:1995/A1:2000 E

Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique
Europäisches Komitee für Elektrotechnische Normung

Page 2
Foreword
This amendment was prepared by CENELEC Technical Committee TC 215 “Electrotechnical aspects of
telecommunication equipment” under the framework of Mandate M/212 on telecommunication cables and
cabling systems.
The text of the draft was submitted to the formal vote and was approved by CENELEC as amendment A1 to
EN 50173 on 2000-01-01.
The following dates were fixed:
- latest date by which the amendment has to be
implemented at national level by publication of an
identical national standard or by endorsement (dop) 2001-01-01
- latest date by which the national standards conflicting
with the amendment have to be withdrawn (dow) 2002-01-01

_____________________________
Page 3
Foreword of EN 50173
Replace twice “TC 115” by “TC 215” and replace “prEN 50098-2” by “EN 50098-2”
Clause 2
Add after EN 50082-1 the following references:
EN 50174-1   Information technology – Cabling installation - Part 1: Specification and quality assurance
EN 50289-1-6 (in preparation)   Communication cables - Specifications for test methods - Part 1-6:
Electrical test methods - Electromagnetic performance
and
EN 50289-1-9 (in preparation)   Communication cables - Specifications for test methods – Part 1-9:
Electrical test methods - Longitudinal conversion loss (unbalance attenuation)
Amend reference to EN 55022 to read: „(IEC/CISPR 22:1997)“
Add after EN 55022 the following reference:
EN 55024   Information technology equipment - Immunity characteristics - Limits and methods of
measurement (IEC/CISPR 24:1997)
Amend reference to EN 60603-7 to read: „(IEC 60603-7:1996)“
Add after EN 60825-2 the following reference:
EN 61935-1 (in preparation)   Generic specification for the testing of balanced generic cabling in
accordance with ISO/IEC 11801 – Part 1: Test methods (IEC 61935-1)
Replace HD 323.2.14 by:
EN 60068-2-14   Environmental testing - Part 2: Tests - Test N: Change of temperature
(IEC 60068-2-14:1984 + A1:1986)“
Replace HD 323.2.38 by
EN 60068-2-38   Environmental testing - Part 2: Tests – Test Z/AD: Composite temperature/humidity cyclic
test (IEC 60068-2-38:1974)“
Add “60000” to any IEC number.
Subclause 3.2
Add the following abbreviations:
ELFEXT Equal level far-end crosstalk loss
FEXT Far-end crosstalk loss
PSACR Power sum attenuation to crosstalk loss ratio
PSELFEXT Power sum equal level far-end crosstalk loss
PSNEXT Power sum near-end crosstalk loss
Subclause 5.1
th
Replace the 5 paragraph by:
100 Ω and 120 Ω connecting hardware shall only provide a single direct onward connection for each
conductor and shall not provide any electrical contact between conductors. For example bridged taps shall
not be used.
Page 4
Subclause 5.2.1
Replace the existing subclause 5.2.1 by the following text (including figures):
5.2.1 Horizontal distances
The maximum horizontal cable length shall be 90 m independent of medium (see figure 6). This is the cable
length from the mechanical termination of the cable in the floor distributor to the telecommunications outlet in
the work area.
In establishing the maximum length of the horizontal channel, the optional use of a crossconnect or an
interconnect places different requirements on the total length of the flexible cables used.
Figure 7 shows examples of horizontal channel implementations which reflect these differing requirements of
maximum cable length.
In Figure 7a, the maximum total length of work area cable, equipment cable and patch cord is 9 m based
upon flexible cables with 50% greater attenuation (dB/m) than the horizontal cable and includes a
crossconnect in the floor distributor.
In Figure 7b, the maximum total length of work area cable and equipment cable is 10 m also based upon
flexible cables with 50% greater attenuation (dB/m) than the horizontal cable and includes an interconnect in
the floor distributor.
In both cases the transition point is optional. It is required that the performance of the horizontal cabling is
not degraded by the inclusion of the transition point.
For optical fibre, the implementation is shown in Figure 7c. An optical fibre splice, in accordance with
clause 8, is allowed at both ends of the horizontal cable.
See clause 8 and Annex C for requirements for patch cords and other flexible cables. In all cases, equipment
cables that meet or have better performance characteristics than patch cord requirements are recommended.

BD FD
CD
EQP EQP
EQP
Terminal
F E
G
Equipment
TP    TO
500 m 90 m
DCCampus BuildingB Horizontal cable A
backbone backbone
cable cable
2000 m
C, D =  20 m
F, G =  30 m
A, B, E  see Figure 7
EQP application specific equipment
TP  Transition Point
NOTE  All lengths are mechanical
Figure 6 - Maximum cable lengths

Page 5
Channel
Permanent link
A+B+E = 9 m max.
EQP C C C C C TE
TP TO
FD
90 m max.
EB A
a) Balanced copper horizontal cabling (with crossconnect)

Channel
Permanent link
A+E = 10 m max.
EQP C C C C TE
TP TO
FD
90 m max.
E A
b) Balanced copper horizontal cabling (with interconnect)

Channel
Permanent link
A+E = 10 m max.
EQP C C s s C C TE
TO
FD
90 m max.
E A
c) Optical fibre cabling (with interconnect)
C connection (e.g. plug and jack or mated optical connection)
S optical fibre splice
EQP  application specific equipment
NOTE 1  All lengths are mechanical lengths
NOTE 2  See Annex C for further information on flexible cables

Figure 7 - Examples of horizontal channel implementation

For balanced cabling the design of the channel should also take into account the effect of elevated operating
temperatures on attenuation.
NOTE  Copper cable attenuation (dB/m) increases by approximately 2% for screened cable and 4% for unscreened
cable for a temperature increase of 10 °C.
Subclause 5.2.3
Amend the Note as follows:
NOTE  See 8.2.5, 8.3.5 and 8.4.4 for telecommunications outlets requirements that correspond to each of the cables
listed above.
Page 6
Clause 6
Replace clause 6 by the following text:
6 Permanent link and channel specifications
6.1 Permanent links and channels
6.1.1 General
This clause defines the permanent link and channel performance requirements of installed generic cabling.
The performance of the cabling is specified for individual permanent links and channels and for two different
media types (balanced cables and optical fibre). A tutorial on the material in this clause is provided in
annex E.
The design rules of clause 5 can be used to create generic cabling links and channels containing
components according to clauses 7 and 8. It is not necessary to measure every parameter specified in this
clause as conformance may also be proved by suitable design. The permanent link and channel
specifications in this clause allow for the transmission of defined classes of applications over distances other
than those of clause 5, and/or using media and components with different transmission performance than
those of clauses 7 and 8.
Each permanent link and channel shall conform to the complete set of performance requirements defined for
that class of cabling.
The performance requirements described in this clause may be used as the basis for verification tests for any
implementation of this European Standard using the test methods defined, or referred to, by this clause. The
permanent link requirements are primarily intended to provide a basis for the acceptance testing of installed
cabling. The channel requirements are primarily for application developers but are able to be used for
troubleshooting or where application support is under development.
Permanent link and channel performance specifications shall be met for all temperatures at which the cabling
is intended to operate. Performance testing may be carried out at ambient temperature, but there shall be
adequate margins to account for temperature dependence of cabling components as per manufacturer's
specifications. The effects of ageing should also be taken into account. In particular, consideration should be
given to measuring performance at worst case temperatures, or calculating worst case performance based
on measurements made at other temperatures.
Care should be exercised in the interpretation of any results obtained from alternative test methods or
practices. When needed, correlation factors should be identified and applied.
6.1.2 Permanent links
The performance of a permanent link is specified at and between interfaces to the link. The permanent link
comprises only passive sections of cable and connecting hardware. A transition point may also be included in
the horizontal subsystem. The interface of the permanent link is the far end of the plug or connecting block,
where the flexible cable enters. The cable connected outside of the plug is not part of the permanent link
(see figure 11a).
Active and passive application-specific hardware is not addressed by this European Standard.
Figure 11b shows an example of terminal equipment in the work area connected to a host using three links;
two optical fibre links and a balanced cable link. The optical fibre and balanced cable links are connected
together using an optical fibre-to-balanced-cable converter, a cross connect and two equipment cables.
Interfaces to the cabling are at each end of a permanent link. Interfaces to the cabling are specified at the
telecommunications outlet and at any point where application specific equipment is connected to the cabling;
the work area and equipment cables are not included in the permanent link.
6.1.3 Channels
The performance of a balanced cabling channel is specified at and between connections to active equipment.
The cabling comprises only passive sections of cable, connecting hardware, work area cables, equipment
cables and patch cords.
Page 7
FD
TP
TO
Permanent Link
a) Permanent link
Terminal
CD BD FD
equipment
TO
TP
Optical fibre Balanced cable
Optical fibre
permanent link
permanent
permanent
link link
Host
Opto-electronic
converter
Interface to the generic cabling
Optional interface when using a crossconnection

b) Location of cabling interfaces and extent of associated permanent links
Terminal
FD
CD
BD TO
equipment
Balanced cable channel
Optical fibre
channel
Host
Opto-electronic
converter
Interface to the generic cabling

c) Location of cabling interfaces and extent of associated channels
FD
TP
TO
C
A
Horizontal cable
B
A + B + C = 9 m
(90 m)
NOTE  For balanced cabling, the 9 m total length of work area, equipment, and patch cable is based on flexible
cables with 50% greater attenuation (dB/m) than the horizontal cable and allows for a cross-connection in the floor
distributor. This example results in a calculated channel attenuation of 24,0 dB at 100 MHz using category 5
component requirements. A longer channel length may be achieved using flexible cable lengths with lower attenuation
performance.
d) Class D channel implementation (with cross-connection)
FD
TP TO
5 m 5 m
Horizontal cable
(90 m)
NOTE  For balanced cabling, the 10 m total length of work area and equipment cable is based on flexible cables
with 50% greater attenuation (dB/m) than the horizontal cable. This example results in a calculated channel
attenuation of 23,9 dB at 100 MHz using category 5 component requirements.
e) Class D channel implementation (with interconnection)
Figure 11: Examples of cabling systems

Page 8
The interface of the channel is the far end of the work area or equipment cable just before the plug which is
connected to the equipment.
Fi
...