Augmented Category 6 (Cat6a)

cat 6a is a 10-gigabit ethernet over copper proposal to the cat6 standard. the ieee published a draft standard (std 802.3an) in october 2004. the draft calls for 10-gigabit data transmission over a 4-c twisted-pair copper cable for a distance of 100 meters on class f or class e-augmented copper cabling. class e cabling requires a line-encoding scheme (pam 12) and electr to achieve the 10-gbps transmission for 100 meters. current cat6 cabling systems may support 10-gigabit ethernet over limited distances.

the draft extends cat 6 electrical specificati from 250 mhz to 500 mhz. it also proposes a new measurement: power-sum alien crosstalk to 500 mhz. alien crosstalk is a coupled signal in a disturbed pair arising from a signal in a neighboring cable.