IEEE Advances Innovation and Technological Excellence
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a global organization that seeks to advance innovation and technological excellence. It covers a range of industries, including aerospace, information technology (IT), healthcare, nanotechnology and nuclear energy.
CommScope is actively involved in the two main IEEE working groups that focus on cabling technology:
1. IEEE 802.3 Ethernet
The IEEE 802.3 working group defines the media access control (MAC) of wired Ethernet from physical and data link layers. Referred to as the application standard by the cabling community, it regulates the interoperability of components, not performance specifications.
Within the IEEE 802.3 working group, CommScope actively participates in the following task forces:
- 802.3bm: 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s Fiber Optic
- 802.3bp: Reduced Twisted-Pair Gigabit Ethernet
- 802.3bq: 40GBASE-T
- 400Gb/s Ethernet Study Group
- 4-Pair Power over Ethernet (PoE) Study Group
- 1-Pair Power over Data Lines (PoDL) Study Group
IEEE Approved Standards
The approved IEEE standards most relevant to the cabling industry are included in the 802.3 (Ethernet) and 802.11 (Wireless Local Area Network) working groups.
Selective published standards for 802.3 Ethernet include the following:
| 802.3u | 1995 | 100BASE-TX, 100BASE-T4, 100BASE-FX Fast Ethernet at 100 Mbit/s (12.5 MB/s) w/autonegotiation |
| 802.3z | 1998 | 1000BASE-X Gbit/s Ethernet over Fiber-Optic at 1 Gbit/s (125 MB/s) |
| 802.3ab | 1999 | 1000BASE-T Gbit/s Ethernet over twisted pair at 1 Gbit/s (125 MB/s) |
| 802.3ae | 2003 | 10 Gbit/s (1,250 MB/s) Ethernet over fiber; 10GBASE-SR, 10GBASE-LR, 10GBASE-ER, 10GBASE-SW, 10GBASE-LW, 10GBASE-EW |
| 802.3af | 2003 | Power over Ethernet (12.95 W) |
| 802.3an | 2006 | 10GBASE-T 10 Gbit/s (1,250 MB/s) Ethernet over unshielded twisted pair (UTP) |
| 802.3aq | 2006 | 10GBASE-LRM 10 Gbit/s (1,250 MB/s) Ethernet over multimode fiber |
| 802.3at | 2009 | Power over Ethernet enhancements (25.5 W) |
| 802.3az | 2010 | Energy Efficient Ethernet |
| 802.3ba | 2010 | 40 Gbit/s and 100 Gbit/s Ethernet. 40 Gbit/s over 1m backplane, 10m Cu cable assembly (4x25 Gbit or 10x10 Gbit lanes) and 100 m of MMF and 100 Gbit/s up to 10 m of Cu cable assembly, 100 m of MMF or 40 km of SMF respectively |
2. IEEE 802.11 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN
The 802.11 working group defines the media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) specifications for wireless local area network (WLAN). It also provides the requirements for customer premise wireless equipment that accesses Wi-Fi frequency bands.
The workgroup has been especially engaged developing new standards to accommodate the rapid growth of Enterprise wireless devices.
Published and upcoming standards for 802.11 Wireless Local Area Networks include the following:
| Wireless | 802.11a | 802.11b | 802.11g | 802.11n | 802.11ac | 802.11ad |
| Standard Approved | 1999 | 1999 | 2003 | 2009 | 2014 | 2012 |
| Maximum Data Rate (Mbps) | 54 (30) | 11 (5) | 54 (30) | 600 (300) | 1000 (500) | 7000 (3500) |
| Frequency Band (GHz) | 5 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.4 or 5 | 5 | 60 |