By virtue of a patented manufacturing process, the airES cable from Krone (www.kroneamericas.com) exhibits dielectric properties that allow the manufacturer to produce drastically smaller-footprint Category 5e and Category 6 cables than those typically found in the market today.
"You can install a Category 5e cabling system in a Category 3 footprint," explains Tim Takala, Krone's director of support technologies. Both the Category 5e and Category 6 versions of airES are 32% smaller in outside diameter than traditional cables of those respective performance levels. The results are significant, Krone says. A 32% smaller cable means a 32% reduction in fill rate of conduit using the same number of cables; it also means a 32% reduction in fuel load in a building's spaces. Other effects specifically benefit installers, such as an increase in the number of cables that can be pulled simultaneously. Additionally, Krone says its field studies with the new cable have shown an 18% reduction in termination time and an 11% reduction in insertion force.
The Category 6 version of airES includes 24-AWG conductors-smaller than the 23 or 22 AWG conductors in some other Category 6 cables. And airES does not have a pair-separating crossweb member either. It does contain a tape that separates the 3-6 pair from the 4-5 pair. These construction differences are what make the smaller-size cable possible, according to Krone.
The technology behind the smaller cable is the introduction of 10 air pockets between the conductor and the conductor's insulation material-polyethyene in non-plenum cables and fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) in plenum cables. And that makes all the difference, Krone says. The introduction of air significantly decreases the cable's dielectric constant, which bolsters its crosstalk and attenuation performance.
Takala explains that air is an optimum dielectric material, so its introduction to a conductor's insulation material helps with cable performance. A "foamed" dielectric, however, with air bubbles introduced in a random pattern, compromises a cable's crush resistance. The geometric pattern by which air pockets are designed into the airES conductor actually improves its crush-resistance, Takala states.
Achieving improved crosstalk and attenuation through a better dielectric means that Krone does not have to take other measures to achieve those performance characteristics, the company explains. For example, it allows the twisted pairs to lie close together and still maintain 100-ohm impedance; this fact means that the now-familiar pair separator found in most Category 6 cables is unnecessary. Additionally, the cable's nominal velocity of propagation is 76 to 77%, which, the company says, increases signal speed to 17% better than what is required by the standard. What that means is that the cable does not require as significant a twist-rate differential as it otherwise would. The reduced twist-rate differential results in reduced delay skew. All these characteristics combine to allow for a 24-gauge conductor in the Category 6 version of airES.
airES products, which officially become available March 1, will be available through all certified Krone retailers. It will be available in all packaging types, including reels and boxes, in which other Krone cable products are available.
David Yanish, Krone's director of marketing, points out that a 2,000-foot reel of airES Category 5e cable weighs less than 50 pounds. He also says that the products are all lead-free, and will be available in CMP-50 versions in the springtime. The airES technology and construction will be incorporated into Krone's unshielded twisted-pair patch cords in the summer.
