10BASE-T
From Freepedia
10BASE-T is an implementation of Ethernet which allows stations to be attached via twisted pair cable. The name 10BASE-T is derived from several aspects of the physical medium. The 10 refers to the transmission speed of 10 Mbit/s. The BASE is short for baseband. This means only one Ethernet signal is present on the send and/or receive pair. In other words there is no multiplexing as with broadband transmissions. The T comes from twisted pair, which is the type of cable that is used. The nominal segment length for a 10Base-T cable is 100 meters, not 10, as with 100BASE-T and 1000BASE-T.
Unlike earlier Ethernet standards such as 10BASE5 and 10BASE2, 10BASE-T does not specify the exact type of wiring to be used. This was done in anticipation of using 10BASE-T in existing twisted pair wiring systems that may not conform to any specified wiring standard. Instead, 10BASE-T wiring is specified using a set of characteristics that a 10BASE-T link segment must conform to. These include attenuation, characteristic impedance, timing jitter, propagation delay, and several types of noise. Cable testers are widely available to check these parameters to determine if a cable can be used with 10BASE-T. These characteristics are expected to be met by 100 meters of 24 gauge unshielded twisted pair cable.
10BASE-T uses RJ-45 jacks wired to either the TIA-568A or TIA-568B standard. Only the second and third pairs are used (orange and green); though these are wired opposite in the two standards - TIA-568A puts pair two (orange) on pins 3 and 6, pair three (green) on pins 1 and 2; TIA-568B is the reverse. A 10BASE-T hub/switch transmits on pins 1 and 2, and receives on pins 3 and 6, while a 10BASE-T node transmits on pins 3 and 6 and receives on pins 1 and 2. If the wiring standard is identical on both ends the segment is a patch cable suitable for transmission between a hub/switch/patch panel and a node. If the wiring standards are opposite on either end the segment is a crossover cable suitable for connecting a node to a node or a hub/switch to another hub/switch. The EIA/TIA 568 standards are as follows:
| Pin | Pair | Wire | Color |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 1 | Image:Pair 3 wire 1 horizontal stripe.png white/green |
| 2 | 3 | 2 | Image:Pair 3 wire 2 horizontal stripe.png green/white |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | Image:Pair 2 wire 1 horizontal stripe.png white/orange |
| 4 | 1 | 2 | Image:Pair 1 wire 2 horizontal stripe.png blue/white |
| 5 | 1 | 1 | Image:Pair 1 wire 1 horizontal stripe.png white/blue |
| 6 | 2 | 2 | Image:Pair 2 wire 2 horizontal stripe.png orange/white |
| 7 | 4 | 1 | Image:Pair 4 wire 1 horizontal stripe.png white/brown |
| 8 | 4 | 2 | Image:Pair 4 wire 2 horizontal stripe.png brown/white |
| Pin | Pair | Wire | Color |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 1 | Image:Pair 2 wire 1 horizontal stripe.png white/orange |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | Image:Pair 2 wire 2 horizontal stripe.png orange/white |
| 3 | 3 | 1 | Image:Pair 3 wire 1 horizontal stripe.png white/green |
| 4 | 1 | 2 | Image:Pair 1 wire 2 horizontal stripe.png blue/white |
| 5 | 1 | 1 | Image:Pair 1 wire 1 horizontal stripe.png white/blue |
| 6 | 3 | 2 | Image:Pair 3 wire 2 horizontal stripe.png green/white |
| 7 | 4 | 1 | Image:Pair 4 wire 1 horizontal stripe.png white/brown |
| 8 | 4 | 2 | Image:Pair 4 wire 2 horizontal stripe.png brown/white |
10BASE-T was the first vendor-independent standard implementation of Ethernet on twisted pair wiring. However, it was in fact an evolutionary development from AT&T StarLAN which had both 1 Mbit/s and 10 Mbit/s versions. 10BASE-T is essentially StarLAN-10 with the addition of the link-beat.
In the OSI model, 10BASE-T is at the physical layer. Ethernet encompasses both addressing at the data link layer and a number of physical-layer implementations. In this model, 10BASE-T is one of the possible physical layer standards for ethernet-- some others include 10BASE2, 10BASE5, and 100BASE-TX. Network layer protocols, such as IP, do not generally need to know whether they are being hosted on 10BASE-T or not, provided they know that they are being hosted on Ethernet.
