A home distribution center (distribution box) is typically installed in each residence. Its location can be adjusted according to the overall plan of the residential community and the entry and exit routes of external cables. Users can select distribution boxes of different specifications and equip them with different functional modules based on the type of home and the household’s needs.
A building structured cabling system generally comprises six subsystems, while a residential cabling system typically consists of the following three parts: the work area, horizontal area, and administration area. In addition, for multi-story residential buildings or large buildings, the system also includes intra-building cabling and residential community backbone cabling.
The residential work area mainly consists of faceplates and outlet modules. Outlets installed throughout the home can be fitted with different types of modules, such as Category 5, TV, fiber-optic, and audio/video modules. Different faceplate styles can also be selected as required, including British, American, Type 86, and single-, dual-, triple-, and quad-port faceplates.
The residential horizontal area mainly comprises various types of cable. Under the 570A standard, different cabling media are used for different applications. Cabling for voice systems should use Category 3 or Category 5 unshielded twisted pair (UTP) compliant with ANSI TIA/EIA standards, although Category 5 cable is recommended.
For data transmission, Category 5 UTP compliant with the ANSI TIA/EIA-586A standard is used. Where higher communications bandwidth or greater immunity to interference is required, optical fiber cable can be used as the transmission medium. Video signals are transmitted over 75Ω coaxial cable compliant with SCTE EPS-SP-001. Coaxial cable can meet users’ broadband requirements without expensive adapters, thereby reducing their investment.
The administration area consists of different series of installation modules and serves as the system’s distribution center. It is equipped with high-speed, high-quality distribution modules and cable patch cords, enabling voice, data, security, image, and video applications for different households. All services are delivered through the communications outlets/faceplates connected to each room. The distribution center consolidates indoor and outdoor voice, data, and image signals and allows users to easily connect equipment such as telephones, computers, fax machines, and televisions.
A home distribution center (distribution box) is typically installed in each residence. Its location can be adjusted according to the overall plan of the residential community and the entry and exit routes of external cables. Users can select distribution boxes of different specifications and equip them with different functional modules based on the type of home and the household’s needs.
The main optional components of the distribution center include:
(1) Module boards: telephone module boards, Category 5 module boards, 110 patch panels, video splitters, surveillance and alarm modules, etc.;
(2) Patch cords: Category 5 patch cords and video coaxial patch cords;
(3) Equipment: Ethernet hubs and video amplifiers.
For multi-story residential buildings or large buildings, in addition to the work area, horizontal area, and administration area of the residential unit cabling system described above, the cabling of each residential unit must also be connected to the backbone area of the building management center and the main administration area of the building-wide cabling system.
Intra-building cabling uses a star topology, with UTP and 75Ω coaxial cable as the transmission media. The cabling grade is determined on a case-by-case basis. Regardless of the grade selected, a multimedia cabling system junction box must be installed in each residence to connect the home’s internal distribution box to the building’s intermediate distribution box and the residential community’s main distribution frame. Depending on the community plan, one or two Category 5 UTP cables and one or two 75Ω coaxial cables can be run into each home. One available backbone cabling option is to install an intermediate distribution box for each staircase unit or each building.
Each building should have a distribution room containing an appropriate number of fiber-optic distribution frames, high-pair-count twisted-pair distribution frames, CATV amplification and distribution equipment, and other devices to connect the backbone to user work areas. All equipment is housed in a wall-mounted or floor-standing cabinet. The cabinet is typically 19 inches wide.
In an intelligent residential cabling system, the backbone system comprises two parts: backbone cabling between residential buildings and backbone cabling within residential buildings.
Connections typically use a star topology, and the transmission media include optical fiber cable, UTP, and coaxial cable. All cables must be protected by conduits or flexible tubing. RJ45 outlets and high-frequency connection modules are used, and cabling equipment with optical fiber interfaces and other functional modules is provided.
For the community backbone, an intermediate distribution room can be set up in each building. These rooms can then be linked via inter-building backbone cabling to the main distribution management center of the residential community (campus). Optical fiber cable is generally recommended for data transmission, high-pair-count UTP for voice transmission, and 75Ω coaxial cable for video transmission. The main distribution room is typically located in the community’s property management center. Depending on the application, copper-cable distribution frames, hybrid coaxial-cable distribution units, and optical fiber distribution frames can be selected.
