Power over Ethernet (+PoE) testing with Versiv

Approved for publication in February 2017, TIA’s Telecommunications System Bulletin TSB-184-A Guidelines for Supporting Power Delivery Over Balanced Twisted-Pair Cabling provides recommendations for twisted-pair cables that will support the supply of DC power – particularly in response to the IEEE 802.3bt standard, which includes Type 3 and Type 4 four-pair PoE. One of the main testing parameters, DC resistance unbalance within and between pairs, included in the TSB is also now called out in 568.2-D. We have an informative white paper that covers all you need to know to test for this important parameter in your PoE deployments.

For Test Limit selection on Versiv, consult your customer and consider the equipment and applications that will be running over the installed links.  Fluke Networks Technical Support cannot tell you which test limit to select.

Versiv version 5.6 added Autotest limits with (+PoE) parameters.  Versiv no longer contains any (+TCL) Autotests; the current choices now are (+PoE)  and (+All).

The extensive Versiv Limit Lines document is available here, but as an example of how the limits differ, let’s compare the limits for TIA Cat 6A Permanent Link, TIA Cat 6A Permanent Link (+PoE), and TIA Cat Cat 6A Permanent Link (+All).

(+PoE) adds these measurements, and only 1 to 2 seconds to the Autotest time:

Resistance Unbalance

Pair to Pair Resistance Unbalance

(+All) adds these measurements, and more time to the Autotest time:

Resistance Unbalance

Pair to Pair Resistance Unbalance

TCL – Transverse Conversion Loss

ELTCTL – Equal Level Transverse Conversion Transfer Loss

CDNEXT – Common Mode to Differential Mode Near-End Xtalk

CMRL - Common Mode Return Loss

TCTL - Transverse Conversion Transfer Loss – mode conversion within a pair measured at the opposite end.

Selecting the Test Limit on Versiv

You will also notice a difference in the structure of the Test Limit menu on Versiv on 5.6 software and later.  Enhancements have been made to help you find the correct test limit faster.

Tap TIA

Tap Cat 6A (Less scrolling by grouping Autotests mostly by category of cabling components, now includes +PoE and +All filters at the bottom of the menu)

If you uncheck +All, Versiv will not display those (+All) related Autotests on the TEST LIMIT menu.

This makes for less scrolling in your Test Limit selection, and you can toggle the fillter to show the test limit selections you need.