White paper simplifies category cable performance characteristics

Document explains terms like EMI, alien crosstalk, far-end crosstalk and others for non-engineers.
Aug. 4, 2011

A white paper authored by C&M Corporation's Mike Levesque, Mike Karg and Himmeler Themistocle simplifies the sometimes-confusing electrical-performance characteristics of category twisted-pair copper cable.

The company explains, "Unlike more technically focused documents, the paper is written to provide non-engineers with a better understanding of the terminology associated with this universal product family. The document blends examples and non-technical explanations to provide the reader with a foundation for understanding the uses for category cables as well as how they function relative to moving data between electronic devices."

The paper identifies and defines the following characteristics: electromagnetic interference, crosstalk, alien crosstalk, frequency, bandwidth, insertion loss, return loss, propagation delay, delay skew, near-end crosstalk, power-sum near-end crosstalk, far-end crosstalk, attenuation to crosstalk ratio (ACR), ACR far-end.

C&M Corporation manufactures bulk cable, coil cords and cable assemblies.

You can download the white paper here.

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