10BASE-T
10BASE-T is an IEEE 802.3 standard for operating
10 Mbps Ethernet local area network (LANs) on
unshielded twisted-pair cabling. Some advantages
10BASE-T has over the original coax-based Ethernet
LANs include the possible use of existing building
cabling, lower cost, and elimination of network failure
due to main bus failures. 10BASE-T network requires
a minimum of category 3 cable and connecting hardware
for proper operation. The overall system consists of a
central cabling hub that is connected in a star-wired
configuration to individual workstations containing a
Network Interface Card (NIC) with either an internal or
external transceiver.
100BASE-T
The IEEE has developed a set of standards for the
operation of a 100 Mbps Ethernet Network. The three
additions to the 802.3 document are 10BASE-TX,
100BASE-FX, and 10BASE-T4. 100BASE-TX is designed
to operate over two pairs of category 5 UPT cabling.
100BASE-FX is designed to operate over two optical
fibers, and 100BASE-T4 is designed to operate over
four pairs of category 3 or 5, UTP, SCTP or STP cabling.
The network consists of a central hub that is connected
in a star-wired configuration to individual workstations
containing a network interface card. The IEEE 802.3
100BASE-T standard recommends the use of category 5
UTP cabling for network implementation. Category 5
structured cabling that is compliant with the TIA/EIA
568-A standard will fully support a 100BASE-T network.
1000BASE-T (Copper)
The IEEE 802.3ab taskforce is developing a gigabit
Ethernet solution that support 1 gigabit per second
(Gbps) transmission rates over 4-pairs of category 5
UTP cable. *The 1000BASE-T implementations will
utilize new technology and new signal encoding
schemes in order to satisfy their high bit rate objectives.
1000BASE-T solutions will be backward compatible
with 10BASE-T and 100BASE-T technologies.
*Gigabit Ethernet over copper will be supported by
the TIA and ISO worst case 100m channel topology
and is expected to be supported by installed category 5
legacy cabling. We recommends category 6 or 5e
cabling for new installations.
1000BASE-SX/LX (Fiber)
The IEEE 802.3z taskforce has developed a gigabit
Ethernet solution over fiber that supports half and
full-duplex transmission at speeds of 1 Gbps (1000mbps).
The 1000BASE-SX standard was developed to support
lower cost multimode fiber runs in horizontal and shorter-
length backbone applications. The 1000BASE-SX
standard support the limited of length multimode fiber.
The 1000BASE-LX standard was developed to support
longer-length multimode building fiber backbones and
singlemode campus backbones. The 1000BASE-LX
standard supports multimode lengths of 550m and
singlemode lengths of 3km.
ATM Solution
A synchronous Transfer Mode, ATM, is an emerging
network standard designed for high-speed, bandwidth-
intensive communication for a wide range of service-voice,
data, still image, or motion video. The ATM Forum has
approved multiple data rates and media types for ATM
networks. The use of 4-pair, category 5 UTP cabling is
recommended because it will support all twisted-pair
based ATM proposals. The network will use a star-wired
configuration with link distances of up to 100 meters.
Currently, ATM product are available that allow ScTP,
SSTP, UTP (Categories 3, 4 and 5), optical fiber, and
coaxial cable to be used. However, while all these media
type are supported, not all support the same transmission
speeds. ATM transmission speeds range from 25 Mbps to
2.4 Gbps.