POE = Power Over Ethernet http://www.altair.org/labnotes_POE.

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POE - Power Over Ethernet

Many applications benefit from electrical power sent over ethernet cables. This avoids a separate
power cord for things like internet phones and wireless access points. Fortunately and unfortunately,
there are several ways to do this. Fortunately you have several choices, unfortunately they are not all
compatible. Fortunately you are at the right place to sort out the confusion between standards.

PoE basically "injects" power into an ethernet cable at the source, and "picks" off that power at the
destination. The power "injector" and "picker" can be external adaptors or can be "embedded" into
the devices themselves. Either way, the destination device is completely powered by the ethernet
cable, no extension cord or outlets required. Voila, Power-over-Ethernet !

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There are basically three methods of sending PoE on the ethernet cable:

First type of PoE, using "spare" wire pairs. The Unshielded Twisted Pair wiring (UTP) for
ethernet has 8 wires, twisted in 4 pairs. Ethernet connects to only two pairs for data, leaving the

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other two free. Simply using the "spare" pairs is the hands-down most economical and efficient
way to do PoE. But, beware of incompatible standards for polarity and voltage, which vary from
brand to brand. More info below. Beware also, some other devices, such as ordinary analog
phones, may already be using the "spare" pairs in your network. Also, if you plug your laptop
or some kind of non-PoE ethernet device into a port energized with PoE, it may or may not harm
your devices. All homebrew and many commercial PoE devices use the "spare" pairs in UTP
wiring, and it is the absolute fastest and easiest way to adapt a non-PoE device to use PoE.

Second type of PoE, using "data" wires. The IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronics
Engineers), same folks who standardized Ethernet itself, standardized PoE in June 2003. The
IEEE 802.3af standard uses the same "data" pairs as ethernet, leaving the "spare" pairs free.
This PoE adds DC power to the data pairs using signal transformers, and pickes off power at
the far end the same way. A comprehensive set of technical standards for Power Sourcing
Equipment (PSE) and Powered Devices (PD) create an "idiot proof" system protected from
shorted wiring, polarity reversal, or accidentally plugging in non-PoE equipment. IEEE 802.3af
is technically complex and best implemented with power management chips specially designed
for the purpose, supplied by Dallas, Maxim, Linear Technology, Texas Instruments, and others,
that are intended to be embedded into the PoE devices themselves. Expect PoE device makers
using their own standard to migrate to IEEE 802.3af in the future.

Third type of PoE is a combination of the two. The new IEEE 802.3af standard alternatively
allows the "spare" wire pairs to be energized, to be compatible with both types of wiring. You
may mix 802.3af with older or homebrew PoE devices, but the result may not be "idiot proof". If
your mixed network has only PoE sources that are IEEE 802.3af compliant, your mixed network
is pretty safe from damage, but older devices may or may not operate correctly. This mixed PoE
allows brands to migrate to the common standard.

If you are merely a consumer, any IEEE 802.3af compatible device will work with any other. If your
PoE devices are not IEEE 802.3af compliant, best stick with one brand, or at least with PoE devices
known to be compatible with your favorite brand. More info below. If you are comfortable working
with low voltage, you have come to the right place to sort out the various standards and
roll-your-own PoE network.

Various Standards for PoE, both Commercial and HomeGrown

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All PoE uses standard UTP ethernet cabling, patch panels etc, your old familiar Cat 3, 5, 5e or 6
cabling is fine. But which wire pairs, what voltage and what polarity were only recently standardized
by IEEE. This means a lot of brands have not yet converted to the new standard, and a lot of older
equipment is still out there. Also, non-PoE devices are frequently run via PoE by simply running their
"wall cube" power brick output thru the ethernet "spare" pairs to the device. These PoE adapter kits
for non-PoE devices are often available for less than $100, or you can wire it yourself for less than
$10.

The IEEE standard for PoE is mainly used for "Embedded" power, that is, factory built-in PoE.

Table 1. Summary Comparison of Various PoE Standards

SOURCE LOAD REMARKS
Ethernet RJ-45 connector pin number *
STANDARD
Source Load DC Load
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Voltage Voltage Connector
Industry
IEEE 802.3af
48 V DC, RX, RX, TX, TX, Standard for
using data spare spare spare spare (embedded)
protected DC+ DC+ DC- DC- embedded
pairs
PoE
Industry
IEEE 802.3af
48 V DC, Standard for
using spare RX RX TX DC+ DC+ TX DC- DC- (embedded)
protected embedded
pairs
PoE
Usually
Intel, Symbol, Most Brands
12 or 24 RX RX TX DC+ DC+ TX DC- DC- (embedded)
Orinoco of PoE
V DC
Cisco Older Cisco
(OLD old 48 V DC RX RX TX DC- DC- TX DC+ DC+ (embedded) polarity is
standard) REVERSED
Cisco New Cisco is
(NEW old 48 V DC RX RX TX DC+ DC+ TX DC- DC- (embedded) IEEE
standard) compliant
D-Link 5VDC @ DC coaxial D-Link PoE
48 V DC RX RX TX DC?? DC?? TX DC?? DC??
(Adapter) 2.5A 5.5/2.5mm Adapter for

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non-PoE
products.
Apple
MacIntosh Converted DC coaxial Mac Polarity
48 V DC RX RX TX DC?? DC?? TX DC?? DC??
AirPort PoE, to ??? (???) Unknown
Extreme
Variety of
Options
Many DC DC coaxial
same as Available to
HyperLink Voltages RX RX TX DC+ DC+ TX DC- DC- and others
input Fit Most
Available available
Brands of
PoE
NYC
12 or 24 New York
Wireless same as DC coaxial
or 48 V RX RX TX DC+ DC+ TX DC- DC- City Wireless
"Roll Your input or as reqd
DC PoE
Own"
* Wire Color Codes shown for EIA 568B.
NOTES:
Swap Green and Orange for EIA 586A color code.

PoE Industry Standard IEEE 802.3af

IEEE 802.3af divides the PoE world into Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE) like hubs and routers, and
Powered Devices (PD) like IP phones and wireless access points. PDs are classified by the amount of
power they consume. Ethernet ports on PSE may supply a nominal 48 V DC power on the data wire
pairs or on the "spare" wire pairs, but not both. A PSE must never sent power to a device that does
not expect it. PoE is managed by a multi-stage handshake to protect equipment from damage and to
manage power budgets.

Heres how IEEE 802.3af works.

SIGNATURE. First the PSE probes the device to see if it is IEEE 802.3af compliant. Probing with two
current limited voltages between 2.7 V and 10 V, the PSE looks for the "signature impedance" of 25k
ohms. The PD is allowed two diode voltage drops in series with the signature impedance, so two V-I
points above the diode drops must be used. Non-PoE devices will usually be below 1 k ohm or many
megohms. If the signature impedance of an IEEE 802.3af device is not seen, the process stops here.

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CLASSIFICATION. The PSE now forces a classification voltage between 15 V and 20 V and the PD
responds by drawing a specific current to identify itself in a power class according to the following
table.

Table 2. Summary of IEEE 802.3af Power Classifications

CLASS USEAGE PD Power Classification Current
(W) (mA)
0 Default 0.44 to 12.95 <5.0
1 Optional 0.44 to 3.84 10.5
2 Optional 3.84 to 6.49 18.5
3 Optional 6.49 to 12.95 28
4 Optional Reserved* 40
*Class 4 is currently reserved and should not be used.

DISCONNECT. A PSE must never sent power to a device that does not expect it, even when
connections are changed. Therefore a PSE is required to remove PoE power when a cable is
unplugged, and to reapply power only after the signature and classification phases are correctly
repeated. The PSE detects the disconnect by either of two methods and removes power. The DC
disconnect method detects when PD current falls below a given threshold (5 to 10 mA) for a given
time (300 mSec to 400 mSec). The AC Disconnect superimposed a small AC voltage on the power and
measures the resulting AC current, similar to power supply ripple voltage and load ripple current. If
the impedance is above 26.25 k ohms, power is shut off intil a valid signature and calssification is
repeated.

As you can see, full compliance with IEEE 802.3af is best done with special chip sets, however its not
hard to design your own simple devices to draw PoE power from an IEEE 802.3af compliant PSE. The
easiest way is to implement Class 0 on the "spare" pairs, with polarity protection, a signature
impedance, a voltage threshold and a voltage regulator.

To Learn More:
IEEE 802.3af Standards Group
PoE industry website IEEE 802.3af

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Consumer PoE Adaptor Products:

Add-on POE Injector converts any hub port to an IEEE standard PSE port
HyperLink Technology PoE Adaptors and Kits for non-PoE devices
PoE Adaptors and Kits for various devices
PoE Adaptors and Surge supressors for IEEE "compatible" systems (NOT fully protected)
Australian "RPOE" Standard Adaptor uses voltage regulator at load.
MacIntosh MacWireless Classic
PoE in a 5 1/4 Drive Bay home project (Uses OLD Cisco polarity)

PoE Circuit Components:

Chip from Maxim Semiconductor combines IEEE standard PD front end and voltage regulator.
Chip from Lineaar Technology for IEEE standard PD front end
Chip from Texas Instruments for IEEE standard PD front end
Chip from SuperTex for IEEE "Class 0" PD front end
Eval board from SuperTex for IEEE "Class 0" PD front end
Web-based Voltage Regulator designer at National Semiconductor, ideal for converting 48 VDC to
your desired voltage.

Amateur Standard: New York City Wireless http://www.nycwireless.net/poe/

D-Link Standard http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=48

Voltage . Input: 48VDC, 400mA . Output: 5VDC, 2.5A

POE Industry Standard 802.3af

802.3af, also known as Power over Ethernet, defines a way to build Ethernet power-sourcing
equipment and powered terminals. The specification involves delivering 48 volts DC power over
unshielded twisted-pair wiring. It works with existing cable plant, including Category 3, 5, 5e or 6;
horizontal and patch cables; patch-panels; outlets; and connecting hardware, without requiring
modification.

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