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What has to be tested according to standards?

29.06.2023 | When it comes to testing, different cabling standards have different requirements what has to be tested. Read on to learn about the test parameters recognized by the standards.

 

To come straight to the point: Neither EN 50173-1:2018-10 nor ISO/IEC 11801-1:2017 nor TIA-568.2-D demand link or channel test. EN 50173-1:2018-10 and ISO/IEC 11801-1:2017-11 recommend testing when

  • a link is longer than specified by the standard
  • a link consists of more components than specified by the standard
  • a link has more than one patch cord on one end
  • a link contains components with lower transmission performance than specified by the standard
  • one wants to evaluate whether a link is suitable for a certain application
  • the performance of the cabling has to be proven (which is important for the acceptance of an installation).

EN 50174-1:2018-10 recommends link tests a acceptance test of the cabling.

 

So, to test or not to test has to be agreed upon. In case of testing, the relevant test parameters can be found in the following standards:

  • EN 50173-1:2018-10, Anhang I
  • EN 50174-1:2018-10, Anhang F
  • ISO/IEC 11801-1:2017, Annex A
  • TIA-1152-A, chapters 4.2.1 and 4.7.3

Parameter

has to be tested according to

EN 50173-1:2018-10 /
EN 50174-1:2018-10

ISO/IEC 11801-1: 2017

Wire map

yes / yes

yes

Length

optional, nur zur Information (gemäß beider Normen)

optional, nur zur Infor-mation

Propagation delay

yes / yes

yes

Delay skew

yes / yes

yes

DC loop resistance

yes / yes

yes

DC resistance unbalance

optional / yes

optional

DC resistance unbalance between pairs

optional / yes

optional

Impedance

no / no

no

Insertion loss (IL)

yes / yes

yes

Return loss (RL)

yes / yes

yes

CMRL

no / no

no

TCL

optional / no

optional

ELTCTL

optional / no

optional

Coupling attenuation

optional / no

optional

NEXT

yes / yes

yes

FEXT

no / no

no

CDNEXT

no / no

no

PSNEXT

yes / yes

yes

ACR-N

yes / yes

yes

PSACR-N

yes / yes

yes

ACR-F

yes / yes

yes

PSACR-F

yes / yes

yes

PSANEXT

yes / yes

yes

PSANEXTavg

yes / yes

yes

PSAACR-F

yes / yes

yes

PSAACR-Favg

yes / yes

yes

Test parameters according to EN and ISO/IEC.

Not all test parameters are specified for all cabling classes. To give an example: PSANEXT is specifed for class EA links and above. Modern cabling testers automatically select the appropriate parameters depending on the particular test procedure.

 

Depending on the tester, testing of certain parameters can be enabled and disabled manually. A quick glance at the tester’s manual might help.

 

The next episode focuses on what has to be in a test protocol.

 

This series is based on a German specialist book on testing twisted pair cabling by Dirk Traeger.

 

Author:

Dirk Traeger

Technical Solutions Manager DataVoice