Belden CDT Networking (www.BeldenIBDN.com) recently announced the launch of its Belden IBDN System 10GX, an end-to-end unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cabling solution for 10 Gigabit Ethernet service. The Belden IBDN System 10GX was designed and engineered from the ground up, the company says, to meet the high-speed, high-bandwidth needs of 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks today and in the future.
"Unlike other 10 Gigabit Ethernet offerings currently on the market, our 10GX solution is not simply an improved or boosted Category 6 system, but rather a whole new UTP solution designed around a series of dynamic enabling technologies," says Bill Miller, Belden CDT Networking's director of marketing for the Americas. "In addition, because it is copper-based, the Belden IBDN System 10GX offers the greatest overall economies in new installs, plus it provides a seamless and cost-effective upward migration path from existing 100Base-T and 1000Base-T cable plants. Commercial enterprises can therefore optimize their IT strategy and network performance while protecting their technology investments."
The major technological challenges in designing a 10-Gig system, the company explains, are to reduce alien crosstalk to a level that is about 15 dB, or 30 times lower than the alien NEXT performance for 1000Base-T at 100 meters. Secondarily, a top-performing 10-Gig system should provide controlled performance during high-frequency operation up to a minimum of 500 MHz. With its performance-enabling technologies, the Belden IBDN 10GX solution has successfully overcome these challenges, the company says. In fact, as witnessed by ETL, on every critical parameter - NEXT, PSNEXT, alien PSNEXT, ELFEXT, PSELFEXT, alien PSELFEXT, insertion loss, and return loss - the 10GX solution delivers guaranteed channel performance beyond the proposed standard, up to 625 MHz.
Belden CDT Networking says it built its 10GX solution around a series of patent-pending technologies that serve to optimize the performance of each critical component of the solution: 10GX modular cords, 10GX patch panels, 10GX cables, and 10GX modules. The technologies include the following.
SpiralFleX cable design. The 10GX system's cable is on an innovative SprialFleX design that consists of two elements: a filler twisted around the four cable pairs and a unique internal crossweb design. These features both increase and randomize the distance between a cable and its neighboring cables, resulting in greatly improved alien crosstalk coupling and return loss channel characteristics.
MatriX IDC technology. A patent-pending IDC design and patch panel circuit layout is used, which positions each IDC at 90 degrees to its neighbor, effectively canceling out the alien crosstalk between modules by 15 dB compared to traditional technology.
X-Bar installation device. The X-Bar is a control device that affixes to the module to enable the accurate positioning of each UTP pair for termination on the 10GX module's IDC pins. This X-Bar design enables installers to maintain the proper conductor twist lays during installation to prevent untwisting. This assures installable performance, or the after-installation assurance that no termination errors have been committed.
FleXPoint PCB technology. The modules feature patent-pending FleXPoint technology, which uses a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) within the module that allows the compensation circuitry to be located directly at the point of plug contact. This reduces the delay between the source of the crosstalk in the plug and the crosstalk cancellation circuitry on the PCB, resulting in a dramatic reduction in crosstalk at frequencies up to 625 MHz.
Each Belden IBDN 10GX solution is also supported by a series of warranties that add important end-to-end system-performance guarantees and ensure full compliance with cabling industry standards, even after system installation. A 25-year product warranty and a lifetime application assurance program accompany each Belden IBDN "certified" system installation. These warranty programs include coverage for both parts and labor.
