Testing Device Links with IDEAL INDUSTRIES LanTEK 6/6A/7G and LanTEKII Series Cable Certifiers Status May 2014 Version 1 Introduction Device Links or direct attach links are used to directly connect devices using twisted pair cabling. Other than in office cabling, Device Links links are terminated with plugs at the device end. Similar to office cabling, device links feature a RJ45 socket on the panel side. The idea behind device links is that a device like an access point or video camera can be directly attached to the data cable without using the “regular “ office cabling style with an cabling outlet and a patch cable. A typical requirement in terms of cabling performance is that the device link must be capable of transmitting up to 1GBit Ethernet. Link Configurations Simple 2 connector end-to-end link consisting of 1 segment: RJ 45 plug Twisted pair RJ 45 socket at panel Direct connected device Page 1 of 4 Requirements for field testing A special challenge for field testing is the fact that links are terminated with a plug on one side of the link instead of a jack. Field testers are regularly set up to test channel- and permanent link configurations. The channel link configuration unfortunately can not be used for testing device links since the channel link configuration specifically masks out the first and last connector. Testing in regular channel link configuration would therefore result in excluding the first and last connector from testing. The installer would not be able to detect termination faults in those connectors. Below picture describes a typical setup for channel link testing of office cabling. Patch cable Device Link O Display handset Typicall channel link test for office cabling. First connector of the device link would be masked out from measurement Remote handset To accommodate the need of including the first and last connector in the test, IDEAL Industries field certifiers use a special “end-to-end link” adapter cable. The use of adapter cables has the additional advantage of making field tests more flexible and convenient. The user can safely place both handsets at a secure position and connect to the link under the test using the 2 meter adapter cables. Using special test setups, the LanTEK Series testers are able to shift the reference plane of testing in such a way that most of the adapter cables are excluded from testing and only the test jacks of the adapter cable as well as the device link are included in the test. Adapter cable device Patch cable O Display handset Device link. First and last connector of link are included in the test Remote handset Page 2 of 4 Testing configurations IDEAL offers an “Industrial Ethernet test kit” , part# 1019-00-2003 comprising of two adapter cords and a calibration cable. Note: 1) The above kit is used for various different applications 2) For testing of device links, only one adapter cord and the calibration is required. 3) For this application the additional cord is a replacement part once the first cord is worn out. Industrial end-to-end link RJ45 test kit Page 3 of 4 LANTEK Series Settings for Device-Link Tests: Necessary accessories:   LANTEK CAT6 or CAT6A Universal Adapter IDEAL RJ45 End-To-End Link test set, order number #1019-00-2003 The following settings have to be used Test Standard:    In the main menu go to „Test Standards“ -> „OTHER“ ->“Misc. Types“ Move the cursor to „Profinet END TO END STP Link“ Press ENTER to choose the standard or press F3 to additionally adjust the NVP value Note: The above standard uses only 2 pairs (12 and 36), if testing of 4 pairs is required, a custom test can be created by the user by taking the above as a template and adding the additional 2 pairs Directory: ( Optional )    In the main menu, choose „File“ Press F2 „OPTIONS“ -> „New Job“ Enter a project name and press ENTER All Tests will now be saved in the above directory Test Names:      In the main menu, choose Cable ID Choose „Set Cable ID“ Set the cable name and current value. Confirm the settings with ENTER Optionally, every end oft he link can have an own name. To activate this feature, choose „Select Double ID“ Optionally, the following settings can be adjusted in the menu “Preferences” -> „Autotest-Pref“: o „Simple Cable ID“ can be disabled, in order to configure more complex cable names such as e.g. 21A , 21B o „Stop on Fail“ The tester immediately stops an Test as soon as the first fault has been found. o „Autosave“ PASS Tests are saved automatically o „Auto increment“ The automatic counter increases automatically in case of a PASS test. Field Calibration:  Follow the instructions of the IDEAL End-to-End link test set ( included in the set) Page 4 of 4