Networks Europe Sept-Oct 2018 | Page 48

48 CASE STUDY cable consists of 4 pairs individually wrapped in an overall covering of high-quality aluminium/polyester foil tape, providing an individual screen for each pair. These subunits are then cabled together with the pairs set to different lay lengths to ensure optimum performance. An overall braid screen is applied to provide further immunity to outside noise and to mitigate any risk of alien crosstalk, which is especially important in an environment where there will be frequent access to the network from multiple devices, such as will be the case at TMA Toulouse. What’s more, the Category 6A cabling was of Euroclass Dca, s2, d2, a2 standard, as identified on the cable’s outer sheath and box packaging, as well as in Excel’s Declaration of Performance certificate. The cabling is fully compliant with the European Construction Products Regulation (CPR), with superior levels of smoke emission, flaming droplets and acid gas production. "The new system supports seve ral applications including 10GBASE-T, adding to the future proofing nature of the installation. This product also lends itself to any high definition bandwidth-hungry video footage requirement, making it perfect for this project" Over 4,000 Excel Category 6A Toolless Butterfly-Style Keystone Jacks were loaded into 122 Excel Patch Panel Frames. The keystone jacks open at the rear in a butterfly manner and can be easily fastened quickly without the need for tools once the cable has been terminated, making them an ideal choice for this time-sensitive project. The patch panel frames were fitted into Excel’s Environ CR Racks, a versatile range of 800mm wide racks with features suitable for a wide range of applications within the data, security, audiovisual and telecommunications markets. The CR Series offers 600Kg load rating, and exceptional mounting space allowing the installation to house the structured cabling and accompanying switches, servers or networking equipment. The racks were fitted with 145 Excel Cable Management Bars to help support the cable and keep the infrastructure neat and secure. The racks were also accompanied by Excel Power Distribution Units, with French plug sockets to help control input power. Horizontally mounted into the Environ cabinets for a higher density solution, the PDU units supported the appropriate management and distribution of power across the entire installation. Excel Enbeam Fibre Optic OS2 cabling was chosen as the backbone cabling to support the installation. Excel’s OS2 cabling solution has been designed specifically for internal and external applications, which is ideal for this space that’s home to a range of open landscape and different buildings. Compact, lightweight and extremely flexible and simple to install, these cables were a great fit for the project. The cables are constructed around a gel-filled (non-dripping and silicon free) tube containing up to 24-colour coded 250μm primary coated fibres. This tube is covered with water blocking E-Glass fibre elements as strength members. As per the copper cabling, the fibre cabling is compliant to Euroclass Dca, s2, d2, a2. Fibre also provides an extremely reliable backbone for data transmission back to the core, while also being immune to lots of interference, caused by other services within a building, there are no issues with the data transfer. This was especially important for this project, where there are various operations, businesses and start-ups in action at the same time on the same campus. A solution that supported the reduction of interference and the improved transference of data was vital. The capabilities of the fibre allowed the network to be designed to work with the vast size of the facility and installation, giving the ability to offer a range of Ethernet applications over a number of distances: • 1000BASE-LX (Gigabit) Ethernet – up to 5,000m • 10GBASE-LX4 & LR/LW (10 Gigabit) Ethernet – up to 10,000m • 10GBASE-ER/EW (10 Gigabit) Ethernet – up to 22,250m • 10GBASE-LR4 (100 Gigabit) Ethernet – up to 10,000m • 10GBASE-ER4 (100 Gigabit) Ethernet – up to 40,000m The result As of April 2018, the various teams and businesses at the TMA Toulouse campus established themselves in the B612 building. The new flagship of research and development for the aerospace industry is fully up and running with an end- to-end infrastructure solution that they can rely on. Currently, there are 810 occupants including 500 SMEs, and these figures are set to grow throughout 2018. n www.networkseuropemagazine.com