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New Power Over Ethernet 802.3at Draft 3.0 calls for lower power

March 26, 2008

Texas Instrument’s Mike McCormack, who’s on the Power Over Ethernet (PoE) IEEE 802.3at standards committee, updated me on the committee’s work this week: There’s a new draft 3.0 which is going out for vote. Draft 3.0 has one significant change to it – the PoE current will drop from 720mA to 600mA, causing the available power to be about 25W rather than 30W. The reason for the lower current is that datacom cables aren’t made for carrying much power – not like the cabling used in a building’s wiring infrastructure — and the PoE cables were experiencing anywhere from a 5-10 degree rise in temperature at the 720mA. Since the drop in power shouldn’t be a barrier to PoE applications, like surveillance cameras or network telephones, Mike doesn’t foresee any problem with the lower current.

Posted by Margery Conner on March 26, 2008 | Comments (3)

April 2, 2008
In response to: New Power Over Ethernet 802.3at Draft 3.0 calls for lower power
Margery Conner commented:

I asked Mike McCormack about the number of pairs, as well as how to get access to the draft. (Thanks, Mike.): "The standard limits the powering to two pairs only. This has been done for a number of reasons, driven from both the technical and market side. The majority of vendors still seem to view very high power (50W) as a very thin niche. So while it is feasible, it is not standard. The draft is only available to members of the P802.3at Task Force and voting members of the 802.3 Working Group at this time. People who are interested in joining the committee can do so by attending one of our meetings, once someone shows up they are members. Our next meeting will be held in Munich the week of May 13. Full information about the meeting can be found at the IEEE 802.3 Working Group website www.ieee802.org/3/interims/index.html."


April 1, 2008
In response to: New Power Over Ethernet 802.3at Draft 3.0 calls for lower power
javy commented:

Where can I obtain the draft 3.0? Is it for members only or it's open for everyone to review in prior to formally release!


April 1, 2008
In response to: New Power Over Ethernet 802.3at Draft 3.0 calls for lower power
ian commented:

I have been reading through the proposed regulations, there still seems confusion on using all four pairs or just 2 pairs for power. If this is allowed, even with 600mA per 2 pairs that will still allow 50W, as it would be 25W+25W in a cable. In answer to gc's comment the issue with the 10 degree rise is when the cable is in the centre of a bundle, when surrounded by other cables which have also raised their temperatures by 10 degrees, quickly results in the cables exceeding their specification.

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