Apparatus Including a Gate Drive Circuit for Selectively Providing Power to a Powered Device Through Multiple Wire Pairs

A port controller circuit comprising:

• a first current flow path including a first current electrode configured to couple to a first pair of terminals of a network port, and a second current electrode;
• a second current flow path including a first current electrode configured to couple to a second pair of terminals of the network port, and a second current electrode;
• and
• a sense resistor including a first terminal coupled to the second electrodes of the first and second current flow paths, and a second terminal coupled to a power supply terminal;
• and
• a gate drive circuit coupled to the first current flow path, the second current flow path, and the sense resistor, the gate drive circuit configured to control the first current flow path to provide a first current to the first pair of terminals and to control the second current flow path to selectively provide a second current to the second pair of terminals.

A power sourcing equipment (PSE) device comprising:

• a resistor including a first terminal, and a second terminal coupled to a power supply terminal;
• a network port configurable to couple to a network cable and including a plurality of terminals, the plurality of terminals including a first pair of terminals and a second pair of terminals;
• a first transformer including a primary winding and a secondary winding, the secondary winding including a first electrode coupled to a first terminal of the first pair of terminals, a center tap, and a second electrode coupled to a second terminal of the first pair of terminals;
• a second transformer including a primary winding, and a secondary winding including a first electrode coupled to a first terminal of the second pair of terminals, a center tap, and a second electrode coupled to a second terminal of the first pair of terminals;
• a first transistor including a first current electrode coupled to the center tap of the first transformer, a control terminal, and a second current electrode coupled to the first terminal of the resistor;
• a second transistor including a first current electrode coupled to the center tap of the second transformer, a control terminal, and a second current electrode coupled to the first terminal of the resistor;
• and
• a gate drive circuit including a first output coupled to the control terminal of the first transistor, a second output couple to the control terminal of the second transistor, and a feedback input coupled to the first terminal of the resistor, the gate drive circuit to control the first transistor to couple a first current path to the center tap of the first transformer and to control the second transistor to selectively couple a second current path the center tap of the second transformer.