TR-42: Telecommunications Cabling Systems

 

Engineering Committee TR-42 develops and maintains voluntary telecommunications standards for telecommunications cabling infrastructure in user-owned buildings, such as commercial buildings, residential buildings, homes, data centers, industrial buildings, etc. The generic cabling topologies, design, distances and outlet configurations as well as specifics for these locations are addressed. The committee’s standards work covers requirements for copper and optical fiber cabling components (such as cables, connectors and cable assemblies), installation, and field testing in addition to the administration, pathways and spaces to support the cabling.

For access to meeting dates and locations or to read past reports,

Please visit the TIA Website page for TR-42

2017 Activities

Published:

    • TIA-607-C-1 Generic Telecommunications Bonding and Grounding (Earthing) for Customer Premises Addendum 1 – Bonding in Multi-tenant Buildings specifies requirements for generic telecommunications bonding infrastructure in multi-tenant buildings and can be used as a guide to renovate or retro-fit existing systems.
    • ANSI/TIA-1183-A Measurement Methods and Test Fixtures for Balunless Measurements of Balanced Components and Systems adds cabling performance parameters in permanent links and channels of category 8 cabling and components, and describes how to measure balanced cabling parameters without balun transformers in the measurement path.
    • Telecommunications Copper Cabling Systems (568) subcommittee published TSB-5021, Guidelines for the Use of Installed Category 5e and Category 6 Cabling to Support 2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T. This TSB includes visual inspection procedures and field test guidelines.
    • TIA-942-B Data Center Cabling Standard. The updated standard incorporates Addendum 1 which addressed data center fabrics. It adds 16- and 32-fiber MPO-style array connectors as a connector type. It adds Category 8 as an allowed type of balanced twisted-pair cable, and changes the recommendation for Category 6A balanced twisted-pair cable to Category 6A or higher. Finally, it adds OM5 (wideband multimode fiber) as an allowed fiber type.

Calls for Interest:

  • TR-42 has launched three new projects addressing Educational Facilities, Intelligent Building Systems and Residential Facilities. These are:
    • ANSI/TIA-862-B-1 -Structured Cabling Infrastructure Standard for Intelligent Building Systems, Addendum 1: Updated References, Accommodation of New Media Types
    • ANSI/TIA-570-D -Residential Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard addresses telecommunications premises cabling systems supporting a wide range of telecommunications applications in residential environments including voice, data, video, security, audio, and control systems, as well as related pathways and spaces for single- and multi-dwelling residential buildings.
    • ANSI/TIA-4966-1 -Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Educational Facilities, Addendum 1: Updated References, Accommodation of New Media Types. Will add Cat8, OM4 and OM5 cable types to the standard.

Top Selling TR-42 Standards

TIA-942 Telecommunications Infrastructure Standards for Data Centers
TIA-568 Series Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling Standards
TIA-569 Commercial Building Standards for Telecommunications Pathways and Spaces
TIA-455 Series Standards for Fiber Optic Test Procedures

 

Subcommittees

TR-42.1 Premises Telecommunications Infrastructure develops and maintains cabling standards for premises networks such as commercial buildings, data centers, building automation, etc. and specifies cabling system topology, architecture, design, installation, testing and performance requirements.

TR-42.3 Telecommunications Administration, Pathways, Spaces, Bonding and Grounding (569) develops and maintains standards for telecommunications administration, pathways, spaces, bonding and grounding.

TR-42.5 Telecommunications Infrastructure Terms and Symbols develops and maintains the master glossary of terms and symbols including acronyms, abbreviations, units of measurement, and uses of templates for all standards developed in TR-42.

The TR-42.7 Telecommunications Copper Cabling (568) develops and maintains telecommunications copper cabling component and system requirements for premises networks. This includes performance specifications, qualification procedures, and test methods for connecting hardware (including modular patch cords) and cable.

TR-42.9 Industrial Telecommunications develops and maintains standards for industrial facilities that can contain severe environmental conditions. This Subcommittee specifies cabling system, topologies, architecture, design, installation, testing and performance requirements.

TR-42.11 Optical Fiber develops and maintains standards, specifications and related documents for the performance, design, characterization, and description of optical fiber subsystems, systems and networks across all applications.

TR-42.12 Optical Fibers and Cables develops and maintains standards and specifications for optical fibers of all types, cables which utilize optical fibers, test procedures and methods for fibers and cables, and terminology related for fibers and cables.

TR-42.13 Passive Optical Devices & Fiber Optic Metrology develops and maintains performance, test and measurement standards for passive optical devices and metrology of fiber optic test, measurement, calibration and inspection instrumentation.