Data cable/line

For guaranteed reliable data transmission

What are data cables?

We certainly aren’t giving away a secret to you when we say that data cables and wires are intended to transmit data. This is done using a cable or a wire.

But what we can tell you:

Are data and signals the same?
Where are which data cables used?
Which data cables are available at LAPP?
What are the differences between these?
At which point in industrial automation processes can LAPP data cables be used?

Using data cables, you can connect devices with identical data transmission technology to one another and thus have them communicated. Most of the time this is done by using data connectors.

While we are controlling an increasing number of devices wirelessly at home using an app and data cables are mostly hidden in house technology, data cables have now become indispensable in industry.

To the data connectors

Data or signals?

Whenever information is to be sent by cable from a transmitter to a receiver, it must be transported by wire or light.

Step 1: The sender transmits the information as a physical conductor in the form of a signal to the receiver. This can be an electrical or optical signal.
Step 2: The receiver measures the signal received, i.e. the voltage/current or electromagnetic wave. If information can be read from the measured signal, this is known as data.

In short: information is transmitted as a signal and read out as data. Data cables act as a transmission medium for signals and therefore data.

Wide application range

In telecommunication, low-frequency and high-frequency technology, very classic signals have been sent and received for many years. Data is also sent from one floor of an office building to another floor via cables. This is done via cables. Wireless data does not work everywhere.

For industrial communication, small devices have to hold and, in some cases, be able to transmit and receive information very quickly and over long distances. This is done by sending data packages sent between a potentially large number of devices.

The application area of data cables therefore extends from conventional communication technology to building, factory and process automation.

Which data cable types are available at LAPP?

The unassembled data cables from LAPP in the data cables product segment essentially differ in terms of

the way signals are transmitted (electrical or optical signal transmission),
the type of use and installation (fixed installation, flexible use (i.e. occasional flexing) or highly flexible use (for continuously flexing applications)).

Do you prefer ready-to-connect cordsets instead of products sold by length that you have to assemble yourself?

To the assembled data cables

Low frequency data transmission

In this product group, you will find data cables for low-frequency applications. They are of particular importance, for example, for computer systems, electronic control and regulation devices, office machines, scales and in general for all low-frequency applications in data technology.

To the products

Telephone cable

For indoor use, we have installation cables, halogen-free telephone cables and special fire alarm cables available for you. Here you will also find telecommunication cables for direct burial for outdoor use.

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Coaxial cables

Coaxial cables are used for high-frequency signal transmission, which is important for radio and computer systems, as well as for the entire field of high-frequency technology and electronics. Because they are resistant to external interference, they can transmit signals without distortion and with low attenuation.

To the products

Fieldbus cables

With our UNITRONIC® fieldbus cables, we cover all important protocol standards and therefore offer the right solution for almost every type of bus system in mechanical and plant engineering: from the transmission of simple control signals for sensor/actuator wiring right through to fieldbus signals in complex network structures.

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Ethernet cables

With the ETHERLINE® cables, we offer a solution for all common industrial Ethernet communication systems where high-speed transmission of large data volumes is essential. Applications include structured building cabling with LAN cables or for challenging industrial applications. Choose from the categories Cat.5, Cat.5e, Cat.6, Cat.6A, Cat.7 and Cat.7A.

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Fiber optic cables

Behind the LAPP product brand HITRONIC® are fiber optic cables, which are seen as the transmission medium of the future. With high bandwidths, high transmission speeds and long transmission distances, they triumph in many respects over copper-based data cables that transmit signals purely electrically.

To the products

What are the differences between fieldbus and Ethernet systems?

In the field of network technology for industrial applications, copper-based data cables can be divided into two groups:

Data cables for fieldbus-based communication networks
Data cables for Ethernet-based communication networks

What is a Fieldbus?

A fieldbus is a bus system that connects sensors and actuators to exchange information with a control computer. Control computers are also commonly known as programmable control (PLC). Almost every manufacturer of a control computer has designed its own fieldbus. As a result, there are a number of technologies that differ from one another, for example in terms of maximum cable length, data transmission rate or scope of function.

Common Fieldbus systems are AS-Interface, CAN or DeviceNet, ISOBUS, Foundation Fieldbus, CC-Link, SAFETY BUS, INTERBUS (IBS), EIB or KNX. Alongside data cables for these bus systems, we at LAPP also offer you a huge selection of PROFIBUS®-compliant data cables. PROFIBUS is the most common and probably best-known fieldbus system.

Find out more

What is Ethernet?

Ethernet, on the other hand, is a technology that was originally developed for office communication, i.e. the exchange of data in PC-based local data networks (LANs), and consists of a range of software and hardware components. Ethernet enables considerably higher transmission rates than fieldbus – up to 400 gigabits/second.

Various PLC manufacturers have extended the Ethernet basic technology to meet different industrial requirements. As with fieldbuses, this has led to different manufacturer-specific features for Ethernet. Due to its high prevalence, performance and reliability, Ethernet technology has long been established in the production environment.

Communication via Ethernet can be divided into two major systems: Ethernet/IP, which also provides the name for “Ethernet-based” and PROFINET. PROFINET is also an Ethernet/IP-based transmission technology and even Ethernet/IP-compatible. PROFINET is subject to stricter standards than Ethernet/IP and therefore forms a subset of Ethernet/IP-based data transmissions.

Find out more

How are fiber optic cables different?

Anyone who thinks about fiber optic cables usually thinks about glass fiber first. However, fiber optic cables do not have to be made of glass, as there are also variants that are completely or partially made of plastic. With all types of fiber optic cables, the signal is transmitted in the form of light using fibers made of quartz glass or polymer optical fibers (plastics).

In the LAPP product range, you will find

Polymer Optical Fibers (POF)
Polymer Cladded Fibers (PCF)
Glass Optical Fibers (GOF)

Would you like to find out more about light signals and their applications?

Here you will find Glass Fiber and Co.

Our new product – HITRONIC® GOF DUPLEX PNB

No automation without data cable!

Automation in industry is effective and future-proof. It helps you increase your production speed, the quality of your products and save time and personnel costs. In simple terms, an automation system consists of sensors, actuators, control computers and a communication system that connects all components with one another using data cables. To ensure smooth communication, communication processes usually take place at several levels.

The automation system as an automation pyramid

Field level refers to production in which sensors and actuators are installed.

A sensor is a measuring probe that captures analogue physical variables (mechanical, chemical, thermal, magnetic or optical values) and converts them into analogue and digital electrical signals.

This measuring sensor can be a proximity, brightness, moisture, temperature, level sensor or similar.

A sensor generates and transmits signals to the control level.

An actuator converts electrical signals from the control computer into physical variables. An actuator converts electrical pulses into pressure, sound, temperature, movement or other physical variables.

Actuators are motors, hydraulic cylinders, loudspeakers, diving troughs, lamps, stirrers, heating elements, fans, pumps and the like.

An actuator receives signals from the control level and executes the "commands".

This level contains control units (PCs), which receive measurement data from sensors and send commands to actuators. Each individual control unit controls a sub-process. If the sensors and actuators are located directly next to a PLC, they are connected directly to the PLC. Sensors and actuators further away are usually connected to the control level via bus systems, but nowadays also via Ethernet.

The control units themselves are connected to one another via switches. Ethernet cables or fiber optic cables are used for this.

The company management level is directly connected to the control level. Here, the current production data, such as produced quantities, is retrieved from the control computers and an order to be completed is coordinated based on the current availability of the machines. The management and planning of corporate resources (ERP) is also carried out here, such as material requirements planning. At this level, information ranging from several megabytes to gigabytes is transmitted.

Data cable/line

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What are data cables?

Data or signals?

Wide application range

Which data cable types are available at LAPP?

Low frequency data transmission

Telephone cable

Coaxial cables

Fieldbus cables

Ethernet cables

Fiber optic cables

What are the differences between fieldbus and Ethernet systems?

What is a Fieldbus?

What is Ethernet?

How are fiber optic cables different?

No automation without data cable!

Field level

Control level

Company management level