Articles and whitepapers

Cat7-Based Home Networking (2/9/2004)

By Sean Jordan, Square D

Home networking offers a rapidly growing opportunity for installers and homeowners because it can now be used to connect a vast array of services at suitable places around the house, in a flexible and convenient way.

The past several years have seen a rapid increase in home working fuelled by the growth in the Internet and the ability to communicate effectively using software to create digital documents and images. This trend has led to the development of improved technologies, such as higher capacity services like broadband, as people sought to transmit and receive larger files and more information.

Different products

Consumers are now faced with a bewildering array of different products that can be incompatible, or might not be effective for an individual's requirements. For many homeowners, networking can be a very challenging experience of researching various options, making hardware and software decisions, and then attempting to connect all of the devices with suitable cable, run throughout the house.

To add to the difficulty, running loose cable often results in an unsightly mess that cannot be altered easily. While networking was limited to a couple of PCs, this was not a problem, and could be tackled with an amateur's enthusiasm. Given the growing number of networkable devices however, this approach is no longer satisfactory. Homeowners want to maximise the benefits of home networking without worrying about incompatible equipment. They would also prefer to live in a tidy and easily-maintained environment.

Homeowners want to maximise the benefits of home networking without worrying about incompatible equipment.

Networkable services

There are a number of services in the modern house that can benefit from networking, such as DVD and CD players, and additional services are being developed all the time. Televisions now offer interactive services, and video-on-demand and broadband video will soon be launched for domestic consumers. The technology for videophones has been improved with better compression algorithms and streaming media. Soon these products will be available to the average consumer.

The benefits of Cat7

This provides an ideal opportunity for installers since the recent approval of the Cat 7 standard for systems and components means that an integrated home network system can be fitted during the construction of the house. The advantage of Cat 7 cable is that the cable is fully shielded, meaning that each wire pair is shielded and the overall cable is shielded.

An integrated home network system can be fitted during construction of the house

This shielded twisted pair (STP) construction gives a level of functionality that cannot be achieved with older unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cabling. Each pair of wires within the cable can run its own application without disruption to other pairs within the same cable. This gives greater flexibility since some services only need a single pair of wires to function while other services require two pairs.

An STP cable virtually eliminates crosstalk between pairs allowing applications to function without disturbing other services running on the same cable. The shielding also keeps noise from electrical circuits, or other sources, entering the cable for better communications. Cat7 can support speeds in excess of 10Gb/s, enabling it to transmit the complete range of services demanded by modern householders.

Manufacturers are now seeking to improve on this standard. The Square D LexCom Home system for example, uses a modified shielded eight-core cable based on Cat 7 parameters to give improved EMC behaviour, TV transmission and stress resistance during installation, while complying with Cat7 parameters for data networking.

Standard connection

The cable can be terminated in an RJ45 plug and socket arrangement allowing any service to be connected to the network. By using a patch panel with patch cables terminating in male/male RJ45 plugs, any socket in the house can be connected to any service. This improves flexibility by allowing the homeowner to change the function of a socket by altering the patch cable layout. While a hard-wired system could provide the network, it cannot give the same degree of flexibility.

A patch panel improves flexibility by connecting any socket in the house to any service.

Because the cable is fitted into the walls during construction, there will not be any signal loss caused by kinks and pinching that commonly happens with loose-laid cables. An added attraction is that a system, such as LexCom Home, supports communication speeds in excess of Cat7, therefore giving the homeowner the added reassurance that the system is future-proofed, and can be relied on for many years to come.

Sean Jordan is the Product Marketing Manager for Square D, specialist in residential automation and networking products .

www.squared.co.uk