The CU 8203 4P cable from Datwyler is a “compact, S/FTPAWG23 cable which complies fully with the anticipated requirements of the new Category 8.2 as specified in the ISO/IEC draft,” the company says. The cable comprises four twisted pairs, each of which is protected by a metal shield. An overall foil also covers all four twisted pairs. Datwyler adds that it intends to follow the release of this cable with “other new developments with S/FTP and F/FTP as well as the appropriate patch cables.”
The company provides perspective on this announcement by summarizing the Category 8 standard-development landscape within ISO/IEC. “The new international standards for Category 8 copper cable and balanced cabling systems for 40-Gbit/sec are currently being developed as draft standard IEC 46C/976/NP and ISO/IEC TR 11801-99-1. Unlike the proposed standards for symmetrical Category 8 data cables discussed just a few years ago—at that time for structured cabling premises cabling and with a maximum limiting frequency of 1.2 Gigahertz—the sole use foreseen by today’s international standardization bodies is in data centers with a maximum limiting frequency of 2 GHz.”
The ISO/IEC TR 11801-99-1 draft “defines a point-to-point connection between active devices at a maximum distance of 30 meters,” Datwyler explains, “comprising 26 meters of installation cable and 2 meters of patch cable on either side. Such a connection can replace expensive fiber-optic and twinax cabling in data centers.”
The exact channel specifications “will be drawn up over the next few months,” the company continues. “Many issues are still unresolved, particularly in relation to future connection technology and the transmission method.” Even so, when announcing the CU 8203 4P, Datwyler said it “lays particular emphasis on the fact that with regard to attenuation [NEXT, PSNEXT], the new cables provide a large amount of spare capacity at the limit values discussed and defined.”