Introduction

In the Information Age, everything is connected. Therefore, there is a need to increase the ease of command and control of such devices as IP phones, sensors, security devices, wireless access points, and even lighting.

Power over Ethernet (PoE) is a mature technology that offers tangible benefits such as low voltage DC power delivered over a centralized and standardized cabling infrastructure. Structured cabling is the norm in new buildings, paving the road to even newer applications such as PoE lighting. For these and other reasons, customers want to deploy PoE in their networks. In addition to traditional network Powered Devices (PDs), intelligent buildings (wherein “building automation” is becoming very close to the infrastructure itself), take advantage of PoE's benefits to deliver intelligent management and control of network devices and buildings.

The ability to provide power over the same wiring that provides the data connection is not new technology, though it has been evolving from proprietary implementations and industry specifications. PoE continues to evolve to provide support for newer applications, beyond the original requirement to power up IP phones.

All Ruckus ICX switches supporting PoE adhere to the IEEE standards as a baseline. Thus, ICX switches are able to power up any standards-compliant Powered Device (PD).

Ruckus access points and Ruckus ICX switches support the IEEE 802.3 (PoE) standards with some added proprietary implementations, behaviors, and enhancements.