Adaptive power sourcing equipment and related method for power over ethernet applications

摘要

There is presented a circuit and a related method for adaptively supplying Power over Ethernet (PoE) by a power sourcing equipment. The circuit comprises first and second power channels coupled to first and second network interfaces of the power sourcing equipment. A shunt device is operated to identify a maximum power characteristic of a powered device. The first power channel provides a first current to the powered device through the first network interface if the maximum power characteristic does not exceed a power threshold. The circuit provides another current to the powered device through the first network interface if the maximum power characteristic is greater than the power threshold. Various embodiments of the present invention may provide a second current to another powered device through the second network interface if the maximum power characteristic of the first and second powered devices does not exceed the power threshold.