Cable labeling standards seek harmony, backward-compatibility

June 28, 2011
Work continues on TIA-606-B as the ISO completes its labeling and administration spec.

The forthcoming TIA-606-B Administration Standard for Telecommunications Infrastructure is likely to fulfill the double-duty of being backward-compatible with its predecessor TIA-606-A and being harmonized with the international labeling/administration standard ISO/IEC TR 1476-3-2-1. In order to achieve both of those objectives, the TIA-606-B standard most likely will permit two identification schemes. Differences between the two schemes would be minor, mainly consisting of different delimeters between fields.

The international cabling administration standard, ISO/IEC TR 14763-2-1 was recently approved for publication. Early in that standard's development it adopted the identifier scheme that also will be specified in TIA-606-B. The ISO standard's official title is ISO/IEC/TR 14763-2-1 Ed. 1.0 Information technology - Implementation and operation of customer premises cabling - Part 2-1: Planning and installation of copper cabling - Identifiers within administration systems. As this ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 25 "dashboard" indicates, the standard was recently approved for publication.

The 606-B standard will have a longer wait than the ISO spec. The TIA TR-42.6 Subcommittee on Telecommunications Infrastructure and Equipment Administration continues to work out details of 606-B. The standard is still going through industry balloting, which is a standard-development stage that precedes default balloting. After default balloting is completed the standard is submitted for publication.

You may also be interested in this labeling guide, based on the 606-A standard, available from Panduit.

Sponsored Recommendations

March 28, 2025
Bringing University of Tennesee's campus up to speed.
March 28, 2025
CommScope’s FiberGuide® Design Pro helps you design a complete fiber raceway for your data center or central office using 2D and 3D technology. This video guides you through the...
March 28, 2025
CommScope and Equinix work hand in hand to provide client connectivity across the globe