Home information wiring system using UTP cable for IEEE1394 and Ethernet systems

IEEE1394 and Ethernet systems are being extensively adopted for data communications equipment, including audiovisual equipment and personal computers. This paper proposes a wiring system that enables the simultaneous transmission of IEEE1394 signals and Ethernet signals along a single UTP-CAT5 cable consisting of four twisted pairs. The requirements of this wiring system were determined by taking into account the specifications of both IEEE1394 and Ethernet systems and the actual domestic environment. Home network adapters were developed to connect IEEE1394 and Ethernet cable to UTP cable. Insertion loss, crosstalk, and eye-diagrams were measured to evaluate the system's performance. The results show that our proposed wiring system is capable of transmitting both the IEEE1394 signal and the Ethernet signal simultaneously at 100 Mbps up to a distance of 100 m along a UTP-CAT5 cable.