twisted quad (TQ)
Like STP and UTP cables, twisted quad (TQ) is a symmetrical copper cable. In the star quad cable, four cores are twisted together in a cross configuration. This means that the opposite cores each form a pair of cores. The four stranded wires are surrounded by a common protective sheath, which can be designed as a braided or foil shield. This mechanical structure determines the transmission parameters such as the crosstalk, the attenuation-crosstalk ratio( ACR) or the near-end crosstalk attenuation( NEXT).
The structure of the star quad must be very stable so that no displacement of the cores occurs during installation, as this would change the transmission characteristics. For this reason, additional supporting and stabilizing elements are used for star quadruples so that the optimum position of the cores relative to each other is not changed.
The star quad essentially corresponds to the UTP cable and STP cable and can be classified accordingly: Star quad in unshielded design as Quad Pair (QP), in shielded design as Shielded Quad Pair (SQP) and with individual shielding for each individual star quad and with overall shielding, Screened Shielded Quad Pair (S/SQP). Star quads with individual metal foil shielding are referred to as metal foil quad pairs(ViMF).
This type of cable is characterized primarily by its small diameter and the resulting small bending radius. Star quad cables are available for all standardized frequency ranges and for all categories.