TSB-185: Environmental Classification (MICE) Tutorial

This Telecommunications Systems Bulletin provides information on the MICE (Mechanical, Ingress, Climatic/Chemical, and, Electromagnetic) environmental classification system.

TSB-185 “Environmental Classification (MICE) Tutorial” was developed by the TIA TR-42.9 Industrial Telecommunications Infrastructure Subcommittee and published in December, 2009. The term MICE relates to the classification of the local environment immediately surrounding a cabling channel. There are four primary environmental elements used to classify an environment:

• M defines the mechanical characteristics of the environment,
• I defines the ingress protection characteristics of the environment,
• C defines the climatic/chemical characteristics of the environment, and
• E defines the electromagnetic characteristics of the environment.

TSB-185 Content

• Environmental Classification
• Environmental Elements

Environmental Classification

The MICE environmental classification includes subscripts (M_aI_bC_cE_d) for each environmental element where the subscripts a, b, c, and d are each independently numbered 1, 2, or 3 and indicate that element’s severity. M₁I₁C₁E₁ is the most benign environmental classification and M₃I₃C₃E₃ is the harshest environmental classification.

Example MICE Classification Table