User's Manual

PN 8100-40 LGCell 4.0 Installation, Operation, and Reference Manual B-1
620004-0 Rev. B
APPENDIX B TIA/EIA 568-A Cabling Standard
Following is a summary of the TIA/EIA 568-A commercial building telecommunica-
tions cabling standard.
The TIA/EIA 568-A commercial building cabling standard addresses the need for a
common criterion covering cabling in commercial buildings. The standard was
drafted to ensure support for a wide variety of applications, devices, and vendor prod-
ucts.
The TIA/EIA 568-A standard assures a flexible cabling scheme which permits the
planning and installation of communications cable without prior knowledge of the
user’s needs. This is especially valuable for new building construction and renovation
where it is less costly and less disruptive to install a universal cabling system prior to
occupancy.
The need for a building cabling standard was recognized in the early 1980s. It
resulted from the changes brought on by new technologies. The purpose of the origi-
nal drafting committee was to provide a non-proprietary cabling system for both new
and existing facilities.
In 1985, the Computer Communications Industry Association approached the Elec-
tronic Industry Association (EIA) in regard to the market’s confusion over cabling
systems. The EIA and later its offspring, the Telecommunications Industry Associa-
tion (TIA), addressed this via technical working groups comprised of industry partic-
ipants. The resulting standard 568 addressed performance and safety issues related to
technology and utilized many recognized and proven standards.
The TIA/EIA 568-A standard defines the categories of UTP cabling, the categories of
connecting hardware, patch cables, and provides guidelines on cabling practices.
The TIA/EIA 568-A standard describes six sub-systems within a facility telecommu-
nications cabling system summarized below. (This is intended as a summary only and
is meant to provide a better comprehension of the standard. The complete TIA/EIA
568-A standard is available for purchase. Call Global Engineering Documents at
1-800-854-7179.)