Glossary

The physical area of a cable that is actually covered by shielding material, often expressed as a percentage.

The relative ability of a shield to screen out undesirable interference. Frequently confused with the term shield coverage.

Shielded Cable – Also referred as screened cable
In reference to CAT5 or CAT6 cable. May also be known as FTP (Foil twisted pair) or STP (Shielded twisted pair), SFTP (Foil and braid screened twisted pair).
The shield is used to block the transmission or reception of external electrical noise.

Shielded Connector – A connector with a metallic shield that covers most of the exposed housing. The shield is used to block the transmission or reception of external electrical noise.

Also known as Metal Hood, Die Cast Hood.
Shielded Hoods - In reference to hoods Shielded will refer to a Metal Hood or casing instead of a raw plastic material.
Shielded hoods can be Metal die cast or chromed plastic.

Short Screw
Telco connectors and D Type hoods among other equipment are usually supplied with screws to enable the installer to secure the heavy lead without it slipping or being knocked out of place.
The installer may require Long or Short screws depending on the space they have available. (see Long Screw)

In reference to light, a wavelength shorter than 1000nm.

The standard international system of metric units.

The information conveyed through a communication system.

The process whereby a protocol at the Physical layer receives information from the upper layers and translates all the data into signals that can be transmitted on a transmission medium.

The ratio of received signal level to received noise level, expressed in decibels and abbreviated SNR or S/N. A higher SNR ratio indicates better channel performance. The relationship between the usable intended signal and the extraneous noise present. If the SNR limit is exceeded, the signal transmitted will be unusable.

The process of transmitting data across the medium. Types of signaling include digital and analog, baseband and broadband.

Glass made mostly of silicon dioxide used in conventional optical glass that is used commonly in optical fiber cables.

A General Electric trademark for a material made from silicon and oxygen. Can be in thermosetting elastomer or liquid form. The thermosetting elastomer form is noted for high heat resistance.

The silver-gray voice-grade patch cable used to connect a telephone to a wall jack such as that used by home telephones. Silver satin cables are unsuitable for use in LAN applications because they do not have twisted pairs, and this results in high levels of crosstalk and capacitance.