The Standards Advisor
Issue 9 • Quarter 4, 2015
What you need to know
for the future of your network
Welcome to the ninth edition of the Standards Advisor. This report is issued quarterly and provides updates on the standards relevant
to the structured cabling industry, and the impact they have on your network design, planning and operations.
This summary represents standards meetings held during the 4th quarter of 2015 and reports on activities from all aspects of the cabling
industry. These activities range from the applications standards (IEEE 802.3 and 802.11 and T11—Fibre Channel) to the cabling
standards (ANSI/TIA, ISO/IEC, CENELEC) and, finally, cover new developments in the world of multi-source agreements (MSAs).
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC25 WG3
No meetings were held during Q4 2015.
The next meeting of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC25 WG3 will be 29 Feb-4 March 2016
in Cancun, Mexico
TIA TR-42: Denver CO USA 12-16 October 2015
1.TR-42.7 Copper Cabling Systems
3.TR-42.12 Fiber and Cable
•TSB-184-A, ( a revision of TSB-184 to support 4-pair power over twisted
pair cabling) has adopted a new cable heating model which provides a
more compelling format.
•ANSI/TIA-568-C.2-1 for Category 8 has moved to a second
default ballot.
•ANSI/TIA-1183-1 for Category 8 lab testing has been approved for
publication and should be published shortly.
•TIA-TSB-5021 for support of 2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T using existing
cabling has been circulated for first ballot.
•ANSI-TIA-1152-A for field testing of Category 8 has been circulated for its
3rd committee ballot.
•Advanced draft TIA-492AAAE, the detailed specification for wideband
multimode fiber (WBMMF), to second ballot. Chromatic dispersion
improvements and modal bandwidth specifications appear to have reached
consensus, meaning the document is on track for publication in June 2016.
2.TR-42.11 Optical Systems
•Advanced draft 568.3-D to third industry ballot. A significant change is the
recognition of reference-grade connection insertion loss allocations within
pass/fail criteria for installed cable plant attenuation measurements.
4.TR-42.13 Passive Devices and Metrology
•Published TIA-604-5-E, the fiber optic connector intermateability standard
for the MPO connector (FOCIS-5-E). This completes global standardization
of the up-angled MPO used for single-mode cabling in TIA Method B, ISO
and CENELEC polarity systems.
•Published TIA-604-18, the fiber optic connector intermateability standard
for the MPO-16 connector (FOCIS-18). This provides a standard for IEEE
802.3 to specify in support of 400GBASE-SR16 transceivers and cabling.
The next Meeting of TIA TR42 will be from 25-29 January 2016
in New Orleans, LA USA
INCITS T11 Fibre Channel: Duluth, MN USA, 5-8 November and Dallas, TX USA, 8-10 December 2015
1.General
•Wideband multimode fiber (WBMMF) and its advantages for short
wavelength division multiplexing (SWDM) were officially introduced to
T11.2. Technology received good reception.
•FCIA 2016 Plugfest - proposed dates of June 30 or July 2016, which will
focus on Gen 6/32G spanning FCoE (25Gb, 50Gb, 100Gb).
•FC-PI-7 target complete date changed to Feb 2017.
•MSQS-3 project proposal to be forward to T11 for further processing.
MSQS-3 is the testing methodology document for FC-PI-7.
3.FC-PI-6P [32GFC/128GFC]
•Document public review ends on December 15th, 2015, with estimated
publication date of Feb-March of 2016.
2.FC-PI-7 [64GFC & 256GFC]
•Optical modulation scheme is currently under study. PAM-4 will most likely
be used in FC-PI-7, adopting OIF CEI PAM-4 specification as an initial
document starting point.
The next meeting of INCITS/T11 will be 2-4 February 2016
in Huntington Beach, CA USA
CENELEC TC215 WG1 meeting 64, Athens, Greece 10-11 November 2015
•Work continued on the revision of the EN 50173 series to align with the
Ed.3 of ISO/IEC 11801
•There will be no update of the EN 50173-1 and -3 before the ISO/IEC
documents are stable
•It was agreed to include a section on design objectives, including
considerations around resilience, security and other relevant issues.
•Text was added to require compatibility between products to prevent
inappropriate use of products such as Copper Clad Aluminium (CCA)
cables, which have caused problems in numerous installations.
•Extensive discussions took place on the topic of 1 pair cabling in support of
applications developed by IEEE. It was seen as a possible extension from
the Service Concentration Point (SCP) of EN 50173-6.
The next Meeting of CENELEC TC215 WG1 will be 3-4 May 2016
in Stockholm, Sweden.
CENELEC TC215 WG2 meeting 38, Frankfurt, Germany 27-28 October 2015
•Work continued on the revision of Ed.3 of EN 50174-1 and Ed.3 of
EN 50174-2. The classification of the EMC performance of Cable
Management Systems (CMS) developed by CLC TC 213 will be included if
the documents reaches the required state before publication.
•A first amendment to Ed.2 of EN 50174-3 is being prepared.
•The revision of the EN 50174 series is intended to be aligned with the
revision of ISO/IEC 14763-2.
•The published ISO/IEC 30129 has with minor amendments been
circulated as UAP EN 50310.
The next Meeting of CENELEC TC215 WG2 will be 10-11 February 2016
in Brussels, Belgium
IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet) Plenary Meeting: Dallas, TX USA, 9-12 November 2015
1.P802.3bq 25G/40GBASE-T:
•IEEE 802p.3bq 25G/40GBASE-T completed Working Group balloting
and has entered the final stage of balloting – Sponsor ballot. The standard
is on schedule for ratification in September 2016.
•Both 25GBASE-T and 40GBASE-T have the same targeted cabling – 30
meter, 2 connector Category 8 cabling. 25GBASE-T is running at 2.0
Gbaud, and specifies Category 8 characteristics out to a frequency of at
least 1250 MHz, while 40GBASE-T specifies to 2000 MHz. The Task
Force rejected an attempt to add Category 7a as a specified medium for
25GBASE-T
•RJ-45 remains the only MDI interface in the specification for 25GBASE-T, as
well as for 40GBASE-T.
2.P802.3bz 2.5G/5GBASE-T:
•The P802.3bz 2.5G/5GBASE-T Task Force continues Task Force review,
and is expected to enter the Working Group ballot phase in January 2016.
•The final standard is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2016, possibly
as early as September; however, the September date is aggressive, and
depending on completion of related technical reports by TIA TR42.7 and
ISO/IEC SC25 WG3 prior to that date.
3.P802.3bt 4 Pair “Power over Ethernet”:
•The Task Force continues Task Force review, targeting entering Working
Group ballot in mid 2016, and the final standard ratified in early 2018.
•The Task Force continued discussion of proposed changes to the US
National Electrical Code (NFPA 70) which is in comment stage, and
the impact of decisions made at the recent NFPA 2nd revision draft
meeting. There was concern that while the language of the code exempts
powering communications equipment up to 60 Watts, the proposed new
language could lead to confusion, as well as regulation of PoE cabling
and equipment installations. Members were particularly concerned because
the changes proposed for article 725 of the NEC are based on no
documented record of loss resulting in life safety issues or property loss, and
a single fact finding report funded by the Society for Plastics (SPI) performed
by UL LLC, which is in conflict with results from multiple manufacturers
done in coordination with IEEE 802.3bt and TIA TR42.7 for TSB-184-A.
802.3bt will be watching the continuing NFPA process closely and will
have to decide what, if any, actions to take as a group as that process
moves forward.
4.P802.3bs (400GE)
•Draft advanced to second Task Force review.
5.P802.3by (single-lane 25GE for server access)
•Completed Working Group ballot and advanced to final (Sponsor) ballot stage.
6.50GE Call for Interest (CFI)
•A Call For Interest (CFI) to investigate initiation of projects for 50GE and n×50GE
successfully formed two Study Groups
The next Interim Meeting of IEEE P802.3 will be 17-22 January 2016
in Atlanta, GA USA
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