New Application Note: LAN Transformers & Elements of the Physical Layer in Local Area Networks

AUSTIN, TX – Abracon, LLC (Abracon), a leading global manufacturer of frequency control, timing, synchronization, RF, connectivity, and power component solutions, announces the release of a new application note titled " LAN Transformers: Elements of the Physical Layer in Local Area Networks."

Below is an excerpt:

"As image and video processing increase in customer demand, communication systems are trending toward higher data rates. To support these needs, sophisticated wired and wireless systems have been developed. Although wireless devices have seen rapid growth over the last decade, wired devices remain the backbone of the communication infrastructure by supporting higher data rates through fiber and copper mediums. As each medium has associated cost, performance and design tradeoffs, fiber and copper dominate wired networks with support by the IEEE 802.3 standard.

A typical local area network (LAN) endpoint comprises of several layers organized in the OSI model defined by the IEEE 802.3 consortium. Please refer to the IEEE OSI model for definitions of the layers. The first layer, known as the PHY (physical) layer, consists of electrical interface requirements like differential signaling, electrical isolation and filtering. This application note will focus on the electrical interface of the PHY layer.

For a communication system to sustain data rates that comply with IEEE requirements, it is important to minimize the bit error rate (BER) as seen by the PHY. Data transmission through an unshielded twisted pair (UTP) is highly susceptible to electromagnetic interference (EMI) from the surrounding environments.

Since all Base-T cabling is defined as UTP, completely isolating the lines from each other and their surroundings becomes impractical from a cost standpoint. The solution partly lies in the quality of the twisted pair cabling and the magnetics utilized for reducing noise imposed upon these copper lines. To understand how the transformers are utilized for filtering out noise, it is important to first know the signals used in local area networks."

Read the full application note here.