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Installation and Configuration Note for the Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine V
78-15590-02
Port Cabling Specifications
Table 4 provides cabling specifications for the GBICs that you install in the Gigabit Ethernet port
modules. All GBIC ports have SC-type connectors, and the minimum cable distance for all GBICs listed
is 6.5 feet (2 meters).
The maximum cable distance for CWDM and DWDM cabling depends on fiber type, fiber quality, and
the number of WDM filters in the design.
Using a Patch Cord
When using the LX/LH GBIC with 62.5-micron diameter MMF, you must install a mode-conditioning
patch cord (Cisco product number CAB-GELX-625 or equivalent) between the GBIC and the MMF
cable on both the transmit and receive ends of the link.
The patch cord is required for link distances greater than 984 feet (300 meters) and must comply with
IEEE standards. The IEEE found that link distances could not be met with certain types of fiber-optic
cable due to a problem in the center of some fiber-optic cable cores. The solution is to launch light from
the laser at a precise offset from the center by using the patch cord. At the output of the patch cord, the
LX/LH GBIC is compliant with the IEEE 802.3z standard for 1000BASE-LX. For a detailed description
of this problem, refer to the installation guide for your switch.
Note We do not recommend using the LX/LH GBIC with MMF without a patch cord for very short link
distances (tens of meters). The result could be an elevated bit error rate (BER).
Cisco Gigabit Ethernet products have been tested and evaluated to comply with the standards that are
listed in Appendix A, “Specifications,” of the installation guide for your switch. All equivalent cables
should also meet these standards.
Table 4 GBIC Port Cabling Specifications
GBIC
Wavelength
(nm) Fiber Type
Core Size
(micron)
Modal Bandwidth
(MHz/km) Cable Distance
BASE-T – Category 5 UTP – – 328-ft (100m)
SX
1
1. MMF only.
850 MMF 62.5 160 722 ft. (220 m)
62.5 200 902 ft. (275 m)
50.0 400 1640 ft. (500 m)
50.0 500 1804 ft. (550 m)
LX/LH 1300 MMF
2
2. Patch cord required (see the “Using a Patch Cord” section for details).
62.5 500 1804 ft. (550 m)
50.0 400 1804 ft. (550 m)
50.0 500 1804 ft. (550 m)
SMF 9/10 – 6.2 mi. (10 km)
ZX 1550 SMF 9/10 – 43.5 mi. (70 km)
SMF
3
3. Dispersion-shifted single-mode fiber-optic.
9/10 62.1 mi. (100 km)
