COLOR-CODE STANDARDS
Last updated: 8/9/2004
Let's start with simple pin-out
diagrams of the two types of UTP Ethernet cables and watch how
committees can make a can of worms out of them. Here are the
diagrams:
Note that the TX
(transmitter) pins are connected to corresponding RX (receiver) pins,
plus to plus and minus to minus. And that you must use a
crossover cable to connect units with identical interfaces. If
you use a straight-through cable, one of the two units must, in effect,
perform the cross-over function.
Two wire color-code standards
apply: EIA/TIA 568A and EIA/TIA 568B. The codes are
commonly depicted with RJ-45 jacks as follows (the view is from the
front of the jacks):
If we apply the 568A color code
and show all eight wires,
our pin-out looks like this:
Note that pins 4, 5, 7, and 8
and the blue and brown pairs are not used in either standard.
Quite contrary to what you may read elsewhere, these pins and wires are
not used or required to implement 100BASE-TX duplexing--they are just
plain wasted.
However, the actual cables are
not physically that simple. In the diagrams, the orange pair of
wires are not adjacent. The blue pair is upside-down. The
right ends match RJ-45 jacks and the left ends do not. If, for
example, we invert the left side of the 568A "straight"-thru cable to
match a 568A jack--put one 180° twist in the entire cable from
end-to-end--and twist together and rearrange the appropriate pairs, we
get the following can-of-worms:
This further emphasizes, I hope, the importance of
the word "twist" in making network cables which will work. You
cannot use an flat-untwisted telephone cable for a network cable.
Furthermore, you must use a pair of twisted wires to connect a set of
transmitter pins to their corresponding receiver pins. You cannot
use a wire from one pair and another wire from a different pair.
Keeping the above
principles in mind, we can simplify the diagram for a 568A
straight-thru cable by untwisting the wires, except the 180°
twist in the entire cable, and bending the ends upward. Likewise,
if we exchange the green and orange pairs in the 568A diagram we will
get a simplified diagram for a 568B straight-thru cable. If we
cross the green and orange pairs in the 568A diagram we will arrive at
a simplified diagram for a crossover cable. All three are shown
below.
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