Power over Ethernet Overview

This section provides an overview of the requirements for delivering power over the LAN as defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) in specifications 802.3af (PoE), 802.3at (PoE+), and 802.3bt.

RUCKUS PoE devices provide Power over Ethernet, compliant with the standards described in the IEEE 802.3af specification for delivering inline power. RUCKUS devices are compliant with the 802.3af and 802.3at specifications. The 802.3af specification defines the original standard for delivering power over existing network cabling infrastructure, enabling multicast-enabled full-streaming audio and video applications for converged services, such as Voice over IP (VoIP), Wireless Local Area Access (WLAN) access points, IP surveillance cameras, and other IP technology devices. The 802.3at specification expands the standards to support higher power levels for more demanding powered devices, such as video IP phones, pan-tilt-zoom cameras, and high-power outdoor antennas for wireless access points (APs). Except where noted, this document uses the term PoE to refer to PoE and PoE+.

The 802.3bt specification further expands the standards to support even more power to end devices such as wireless APs (802.11ac), Internet of Things (IoT), computers (Thin Clients), smart buildings (LED lighting), pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) security cameras with lens movement or built-in heaters, hospital equipment (nurse call), business (POS terminals), information kiosks, Small Cell (low-powered radio-access nodes), and televisions.

For a list of the RUCKUS devices and modules that support IEEE 802.3af, IEEE 802.3at, IEEE 802.3bt, Power over HDBaseT (PoH) or a combination, refer to the RUCKUS FastIron Features and Standards Support Matrix.

Note: Legacy inline power is not supported in 4-pair PoE ports.

PoE technology eliminates the need for an electrical outlet and a dedicated uninterruptible power supply (UPS) near IP powered devices (PDs). With power-sourcing equipment such as a RUCKUS PoE device, power is consolidated and centralized in wiring closets, improving the reliability and resilience of the network.

In this section:

  1. Power over Ethernet Terms
  2. IEEE 802.3bt Features
    PoE on RUCKUS ICX 7550 devices is IEEE 802.3bt standard compliant. The IEEE 802.3bt standard has increased the amount of power that can be transmitted over the Ethernet cable by using all four wire pairs of the cable.
  3. Power over Ethernet 802.1br Stack Support
    You can configure and monitor PoE functionality from the core control bridge (CB) stack for all the units in SPX (CB and PE units).
  4. Methods for Delivering Power over Ethernet
  5. Perpetual PoE and Fast Boot PoE
  6. PoE Refactoring
  7. PoE Autodiscovery
  8. Power Class
  9. Power over Ethernet Cabling Requirements
  10. Auto Firmware Download
  11. PoE and CPU Utilization
  12. PoE Support Matrix
    The following table lists the support matrix for the ICX 7150, ICX 7550, ICX 7650, ICX 8100, and ICX 8200 devices.
Parent topic: Power over Ethernet