In balanced pair operation, the two wires carry equal and opposite signals and the destination detects the difference between the two. This is known as differential mode transmission. Noise sources introduce signals into the wires by coupling of electric or magnetic fields and tend to couple to both wires equally. The noise thus produces a common-mode signal which is canceled at the receiver when the difference signal is taken.
This method starts to fail when the noise source is close to the signal wires; the closer wire will couple with the noise more strongly and the common-mode rejection of the receiver will fail to eliminate it. This problem is especially apparent in telecommunication cables where pairs in the same cable lie next to each other for many miles. One pair can induce crosstalk in another and it is additive along the length of the cable. Twisting the pairs counters this effect as on each half twist the wire nearest to the noise-source is exchanged.
Providing the interfering source remains uniform, or nearly so, over the distance of a single twist, the induced noise will remain common-mode. Differential signaling also reduces electromagnetic radiation from the cable, along with the associated attenuation allowing for greater distance between exchanges.
The twist rate (also called pitch of the twist, usually defined in twists per meter) makes up part of the specification for a given type of cable. When nearby pairs have equal twist rates, the same conductors of the different pairs may repeatedly lie next to each other, partially undoing the benefits of differential mode. For this reason it is commonly specified that, at least for cables containing small numbers of pairs, the twist rates must differ.[1]
In contrast to STP (shielded twisted pair), FTP (foiled twisted pair) and other variations of shielded cabling, UTP (unshielded twisted pair) cable is not surrounded by any shielding. It is the primary wire type for telephone usage and is very common for computer networking, especially as patch cables or temporary network connections due to the high flexibility of the cables.
History[edit]
Wire transposition on top of pole
The earliest telephones used telegraph lines, or open-wire single-wire earth return circuits. In the 1880s electric trams were installed in many cities, which induced noise into these circuits. Lawsuits being unavailing, the telephone companies converted to balanced circuits, which had the incidental benefit of reducing attenuation, hence increasing range.
As electrical power distribution became more commonplace, this measure proved inadequate. Two wires, strung on either side of cross bars on utility poles, shared the route with electrical power lines. Within a few years, the growing use of electricity again brought an increase of interference, so engineers devised a method called wire transposition, to cancel out the interference.
In wire transposition, the wires exchange position once every several poles. In this way, the two wires would receive similar EMI from power lines. This represented an early implementation of twisting, with a twist rate of about four twists per kilometre, or six per mile. Such open-wire balanced lines with periodic transpositions still survive today in some rural areas.
Twisted pair cables were invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1881.[2] By 1900, the entire American telephone line network was either twisted pair or open wire with transposition to guard against interference. Today, most of the millions of kilometres of twisted pairs in the world are outdoor landlines, owned by telephone companies, used for voice service, and only handled or even seen by telephone workers.
Unshielded twisted pair (UTP)[edit]
Unshielded twisted pair
UTP cables are found in many Ethernet networks and telephone systems. For indoor telephone applications, UTP is often grouped into sets of 25 pairs according to a standard 25-pair color code originally developed by AT&T Corporation. A typical subset of these colors (white/blue, blue/white, white/orange, orange/white) shows up in most UTP cables. The cables are typically made with copper wires measured at 22 or 24 American Wire Gauge (AWG),[3] with the colored insulation typically made from an insulator such as polyethylene or FEP and the total package covered in a polyethylene jacket.
For urban outdoor telephone cables containing hundreds or thousands of pairs, the cable is divided into smaller but identical bundles. Each bundle consists of twisted pairs that have different twist rates. The bundles are in turn twisted together to make up the cable. Pairs having the same twist rate within the cable can still experience some degree of crosstalk. Wire pairs are selected carefully to minimize crosstalk within a large cable.
Unshielded twisted pair cable with different twist rates
UTP cable is also the most common cable used in computer networking. Modern Ethernet, the most common data networking standard, can use UTP cables. Twisted pair cabling is often used in data networks for short and medium length connections because of its relatively lower costs compared to optical fiber and coaxial cable.
UTP is also finding increasing use in video applications, primarily in security cameras. Many cameras include a UTP output with screw terminals; UTP cable bandwidth has improved to match the baseband of television signals. As UTP is a balanced transmission line, a balun is needed to connect to unbalanced equipment, for example any using BNC connectors and designed for coaxial cable.
Cable shielding[edit]
Main article: Electromagnetic shielding
F/UTP cable
S/FTP cable
U/FTP, F/UTP and F/FTP are used in Cat.6a cables
S/UTP cable
Twisted pair cables are often shielded in an attempt to prevent electromagnetic interference. Shielding provides an electric conductive barrier to attenuate electromagnetic waves external to the shield and provides conduction path by which induced currents can be circulated and returned to the source, via ground reference connection.
This shielding can be applied to individual pairs or quads, or to the collection of pairs. Individual pairs are foiled, while overall cable may use braided screen, foil, or braiding with foil.
ISO/IEC 11801:2002 (Annex E) attempts to internationally standardise the various designations for shielded cables by using combinations of three letters - U for unshielded, S for braided shielding, and F for foiled shielding - to explicitly indicate the type of screen for overall cable protection and for individual pairs or quads, using a two-part abbreviation in the form of x/xTP.
When shielding is applied to the collection of pairs, this is usually referred to as screening, however different vendors and authors use different terminology, employing "screening" and "shielding" interchangeably; for example, STP (shielded twisted pair) or ScTP (screened twisted pair) has been used to denote U/FTP, S/UTP, F/UTP, SF/UTP and S/FTP construction.[4]
Because the shielding is made of metal, it may also serve as a ground. Usually a shielded or a screened twisted pair cable has a special grounding wire added called a drain wire which is electrically connected to the shield or screen. The drain wire simplifies connection to ground at the connectors.
An early example of shielded twisted-pair is IBM STP-A, which was a two-pair 150 ohm S/FTP cable defined in 1985 by the IBM Cabling System specifications, and used with token ring or FDDI networks.[4][5]
Common shielded cable types used by Cat. 6a, Cat.7 and Cat.8 cables include:
Shielded twisted pair (U/FTP) Also pair in metal foil. Individual shielding with foil for each twisted pair or quad. This type of shielding protects cable from external EMI entering or exiting the cable and also protects neighboring pairs from crosstalk.Screened twisted pair (F/UTP, S/UTP and SF/UTP)Also foiled twisted pair for F/UTP. Overall foil, braided shield or braiding with foil across all of the pairs within the 100 Ohm twisted pair cable. This type of shielding protects EMI from entering or exiting the cable.Screened shielded twisted pair (F/FTP and S/FTP)Also fully shielded twisted pair, shielded screened twisted pair, screened foiled twisted pair, shielded foiled twisted pair. Individual shielding using foil between the twisted pair sets, and also an outer metal and/or foil shielding within the 100 Ohm twisted pair cable.[6] This type of shielding protects EMI from entering or exiting the cable and also protects neighboring pairs from crosstalk.
Examples of common industry abbreviations
Industry acronyms
ISO/IEC 11801 name
Cable shielding
Pair shielding
UTP U/UTP none none
STP, ScTP, PiMF U/FTP none foil
FTP, STP, ScTP F/UTP foil none
STP, ScTP S/UTP braiding none
SFTP, S-FTP, STP SF/UTP braiding, foil none
FFTP F/FTP foil foil
SSTP, SFTP, STP PiMF S/FTP braiding foil
The code before the slash designates the shielding for the cable itself, while the code after the slash determines the shielding for the individual pairs:
U = unshieldedF = foil shieldingS = braided shielding (outer layer only)TP = twisted pairTQ = twisted pair, individual shielding in quads
