What does Delay Skew describe in a multi-pair copper cable?

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Delay skew is about how evenly signals travel through the different pairs in a multi-pair copper cable. Each pair has its own propagation delay—the time it takes for a signal to get from one end to the other. Even when the cables are all the same length, small differences in construction can cause one pair to introduce a slightly longer delay than another. The difference between the fastest and slowest pair is the skew. In high-speed multi-pair systems, keeping this timing difference within a specified limit is crucial so that bits sent on all pairs arrive in a synchronized way at the receiver.

This isn’t about how much resistance the conductors have, nor about how long it takes for a connector to mate, nor about impedance changes along the length. Those factors affect other aspects of performance, while delay skew specifically describes the variation in propagation time between pairs.