Layer 2 power classification support for power-over-ethernet personal computing devices

In a Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) system, a system for classifying power for a plurality of personal computing devices that each have a corresponding PoE control module from among a plurality of PoE control modules, comprising:

• a switch configured to connect to the plurality of personal computing devices;
• wherein the switch is configured to communicate with each PoE control module using a communications link to communicate power requirement information between the switch and the plurality of PoE control modules,
• wherein the switch is configured to poll at least two PoE control modules from among the plurality of PoE control modules for the power requirement information using the communications link,
• wherein the switch is configured to determine power classifications for at least two of the plurality of personal computing devices based on the power requirement information,
• wherein the switch is configured to re-poll the at least two PoE control modules and to re-determine the power classifications for the at least two PoE control modules on a periodic basis, and
• wherein the switch is configured to provide power supply information to the the at least two of the plurality of personal computing devices based on the power classifications.