Telecommunications cable is a type of guided

transmission medium A transmission medium is a system or substance that can mediate the propagation of signals for the purposes of telecommunication. Signals are typically imposed on a wave of some kind suitable for the chosen medium. For example, data can modula ...

Telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

are based on transmitting and receiving modulated waves/signals through a medium. Types of telecommunications cable include: electrical cables when electric current is carried;

transmission line In electrical engineering, a transmission line is a specialized cable or other structure designed to conduct electromagnetic waves in a contained manner. The term applies when the conductors are long enough that the wave nature of the transmis ...

s and waveguides when electromagnetic waves are transmitted;

optical fiber An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

s when light signals are transmitted. When the distances involved are very short, the term ''signal cable'' may be used, for analog or digital communication. A ''data cable'' is used in digital

data communication Data communication, including data transmission and data reception, is the transfer of data, transmitted and received over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication channel. Examples of such channels are copper wires, optic ...

s. Data cabling must conform to certain standards and best practices to ensure reliable performance and safety. When the distance between the transmitter and receiver is very far, an unguided or

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided transm ...

medium transmission may be used, based on antennas. Examples include: * Ethernet cables ( Cat 5, Cat 5e,

Cat 6 Category 6 cable (Cat 6) is a standardized twisted pair cable for Ethernet and other network physical layers that is backward compatible with the Category 5 cable, Category 5/5e and Category 3 cable standards. Cat 6 must me ...

, Cat 6A) * Token Ring cables ( Cat 4) *

Coaxial cable Coaxial cable, or coax (pronounced ), is a type of electrical cable consisting of an inner Electrical conductor, conductor surrounded by a concentric conducting Electromagnetic shielding, shield, with the two separated by a dielectric (Insulat ...

mainly used for analog communication, sometimes used as a baseband digital data cable, such as in

serial digital interface Serial digital interface (SDI) is a family of digital video Interface (computing), interfaces first standardized by SMPTE (The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) in 1989. For example, ITU-R BT.656 and SMPTE 259M define digital ...

and thicknet and thinnet. *

Optical fiber cable A fiber-optic cable, also known as an optical-fiber cable, is an assembly similar to an electrical cable but containing one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light. The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with p ...

* Serial cable and parallel cable * Cat2 or telephone cord * USB cable

References

* {{Telecomm-stub

See also

References