Page 57 - M. Abrahim Thesis

Computer Network 2021

• Media and connector size—Small

• Maximum cable length—100 m (short)

Commonly used types of UTP cabling are as follows:

• Category 1 (CAT 1)—Used for telephone communications. Not suitable for
transmitting data.

• Category 2 (CAT 2)—Capable of transmitting data at speeds up to 4 Mbps.

• Category 3 (CAT 3)—Used in 10BASET Ethernet networks. Can transmit data at
speeds up to 10 Mbps.
• Category 4 (CAT 4)—Used in Token Ring networks. Can transmit data at speeds
up to 16 Mbps.

• Category 5 (CAT 5)—Can transmit data at speeds up to 100 Mbps. Used in Fast
Ethernet networks.
• Category 5e (CAT 5e)—Used in networks running at speeds up to 1000 Mbps (1
Gbps). Used in Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) networks.

• Category 6 (CAT 6)—The specification for CAT 6 is new, was released on February
3, 2003, and is currently available for installation and use. Used in Gigabit
Ethernet (GigE) networks.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgOkvIHKgXQ

3.3 Optical Media

Optical fiber is the most frequently used medium for the longer, high bandwidth, pointto-
point transmissions required on LAN backbones and on wide-area networks (WANs).
Total Internal Reflection A light ray that is being turned on and off to send data 1s and 0s
into an optical fiber must stay inside the fiber until it reaches the far end. The ray must not
refract into the material wrapped around the outside of the fiber because such refraction causes
the loss of part of the ray’s light energy. A design for the fiber that makes the outside surface of
the fiber act like a mirror to the light ray moving through the fiber must be achieved. If any light
ray that tries to move out through the side of the fiber is reflected back into the fiber at an angle
that sends it towards the far end of the fiber, this is a good pipe or wave guide for the light
waves, as illustrated in Figure 3-4.

Figure 3-4 shown a wave guide for the light waves Structure

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