ICT Today

January/February/March 2020 I 49 decade, Category copper cabling standards have changed from Cat 3 all the way to Cat 8. Over these five genera- tions (Cat 3, Cat 5e, Cat 6, Cat 6A, Cat 8), healthcare facilities were expected to upgrade to the next generation in an effort to support increasing data speeds, often wasting money and disrupting operations in the process. Optical fiber cabling, such as singlemode optical fiber (SMF), has no theoretical bandwidth limit. Today, SMF has proven to support 101 Tb/sec, but that ceiling is only an artificial limit based on the electronic transmis- sion technology currently available. Since the ANSI/ TIA-1179-A "Healthcare Facility Telecommunications Infrastructure" standard recommends using the highest performing cable media whenever possible, SMF is clearly the right choice. Greater Gigabit Ethernet Access Density with Reduced Cabling One SMF can serve 128 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) endpoints whereas 128 separate copper cables with a larger diameter would otherwise be required (Figure 3). According to ANSI/TIA-1179-A, 45 percent of rooms should have two to six Gigabit ports, 25 percent should have six to 12 ports and 30 percent of rooms should have 14 or more ports. When calculating the ANSI/TIA-1179-A Gigabit port requirement for a healthcare facility with 100 rooms (e.g., 45 rooms have six ports; 25 rooms have 12 ports; 30 rooms have 16 ports), the facility would require a total of 1,050 Gigabit ports. For the cabling, 1,050 Gigabit ports would require 1,050 copper cables. By using SMF, that same number of Gigabit ports can be served by only nine optical fiber cables. Assuming that each one of those 1,050 Gigabit ports requires access drop cabling connectivity that is 300 feet (approximately 91 meters) long, the 1,050 300-foot lengths of Cat 6A access cables would weigh 12,285 pounds (Figure 4). The bundle of 1,050 cables would be almost two feet (approximately 0.61 meters) in diameter. In contrast to Cat 6A, optical fiber cabling that serves 1,050 Gigabit ports would weigh only 10 pounds (i.e., six tons less than Cat 6A) in a bundle no larger than one inch in diameter. Ultimately, the Cat 6A cable cost, at 33 cents per lineal foot, would total $1,039.50. SMF costs 11 cents per lineal foot, totaling only $346.50 (Figure 5). FIGURE 3: A single SMF cable diameter is generally .11 inches, compared to the larger Cat 6A cable diameter of .29 inches. FIGURE 4: SMF cable weighs roughly .004 pounds per foot versus Cat 6A, which is heavier at .039 pounds per foot. FIGURE 5: SMF cable costs approximately $ .11 per foot and Cat 6A at $ .33 per foot. 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 Cable Size in Inches 0.1 0.05 0 Copper Fiber 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 Cable Cost in Dollars per Foot 0.1 0.05 0 1 Copper Fiber 0.045 0.04 0.035 0.03 0.025 0.02 0.015 Cable Weight in Pounds per Foot 0.01 0.005 0 Copper Fiber 9000 8000 7000 6000 4000 3000 5000 POL Gigabit Ethernet Density per Shelf 2000 1000 0 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 Cable Size in Inches 0.1 0.05 0 Copper Fiber 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 Cable Cost in Dollars per Foot 0.1 0.05 0 1 Copper Fiber 0.045 0.04 0.035 0.03 0.025 0.02 0.015 Cable Weight in Pounds per Foot 0.01 0.005 0 Copper Fiber POL Gigabit Ethernet Density per Shelf 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 Cable Size in Inches 0.1 0.05 0 Copper Fiber 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 Cable Cost in Dollars per Foot 0.1 0.05 0 1 Copper Fiber 0.045 0.04 0.035 0.03 0.025 0.02 0.015 Cable Weight in Pounds per Foot 0.01 0.005 0 Copper Fiber POL Gigabit Ethernet Density per Shelf

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