Power over ethernet power sourcing equipment architecture for variable maximum power delivery
AssigneeBroadcom Corporation
InventorsWael William Diab, Hemanth Nekkileru, Sesha Thalpasai Panguluri
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A power over Ethernet (PoE) power sourcing equipment (PSE) architecture for variable maximum power delivery. PoE PSE subsystems rely on some control to “turn on” a power field effect transistor (FET), which allows current to be transmitted to a powered device (PD). A hybrid approach is provided where an internal FET can be augmented with an external FET to provide an architecture that can be flexibly applied to applications with various space, cost and cooling limitations. The maximum delivered power can also be boosted with the addition of an external FET to the internal FET.
Claims19
A power sourcing equipment for powering a powered device in a power over Ethernet system, comprising:
- an integrated controller, said integrated controller including,
- a first power transistor for delivering power to the powered device;
- a first switch control logic that controls said first power transistor, said first power transistor providing a first level of power;
- and
- a second switch control logic that controls a second power transistor, which is external to said integrated controller, said second power transistor augmenting a capacity of the power sourcing equipment in powering the powered device through a delivery of a second level of power greater than said first level of power.
A power sourcing equipment in a power over Ethernet system, comprising:
- a first power transistor that is integrated with a first switch control into a single chip, said first switch control enabling an activation of said first power transistor to provide a first level of power;
- and
- a second power transistor, external to said single chip, said second power transistor being controlled by a second switch control in said single chip, wherein activation of said second power transistor in combination with an activation of said first power transistor provides a second level of power greater than said first level of power.
A method for generating a hybrid power sourcing equipment, comprising:
- integrating an internal power transistor into a power sourcing equipment controller chip, said power sourcing equipment controller chip including a first switch control that controls said internal power transistor, said first switch control activating said internal power transistor to produce a first level of power;
- and
- adding an external power transistor to the hybrid power sourcing equipment, said external power transistor being physically separate from said power sourcing equipment controller chip and being controlled by a second switch control inside said power sourcing equipment controller chip, said external power transistor being activated by said second switch control, wherein activation of said external power transistor in combination with an activation of said internal power transistor provides a second level of power greater than said first level of power.
A method for operating a hybrid power sourcing equipment to provide power to a powered device, the hybrid power sourcing equipment including an internal power transistor that is integrated into a power sourcing equipment controller chip, and an external power transistor that is external to the power sourcing equipment controller chip, comprising:
- determining whether a power level provided by an initial one of the internal power transistor and the external power transistor is sufficient to meet an initial power need of the powered device;
- and
- turning on the remaining one of the internal power transistor and the external power transistor that was not turned on to meet said initial power need based on a determination that said initial one of the internal power transistor and the external power transistor is not sufficient to meet said initial power need.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.