Akros AS1854 GreenEdge PoE PD Passes First PoEPlus Plugfest

The UNH-IOL's first Power-over-Ethernet plugfest to include PoEPlus equipment was held in conjunction with the IEEE's recent ratification of the PoEPlus standard (IEEE802.3at). Released earlier this year, the AS1854 is the only PD solution in the industry to integrate on-chip digital isolation technology. Akros' patented GreenEdge™ digital isolation technology eliminates low-speed, bulky opto-couplers and integrates functionality of up to nine separate ICs used in current solutions, including a third-generation IEEE 802.3at/af digital PD controller and quad-output digital power DC-DC converters.

PoEPlus interoperability testing by UNH-IOL is an important milestone for the industry, said Amit Gattani, Network Power Business Unit Director for Akros. It sends a strong message to our customer base that standards-compliant and interoperable equipment is available from multiple vendors, and that customers can deploy PoEPlus appliances without concern. Akros has led the industry effort to create the PoEPlus standard and bring advanced and cost-effective silicon solutions to market--such as the AS1854 product family, which fully utilizes the PoEPlus standard's dynamic power management capability.

The AS1854 architecture is uniquely designed to provide intelligent and real-time power data from the high-voltage network side to the system micro-controller and software across AS1854's internal 2kV isolation boundary. This data can be used by the PD appliance to communicate real-time power consumption and demand needs to any power sourcing equipment (PSE) utilizing IEEE802.3at standard-defined data-link-layer packets. By enabling dynamic and intelligent allocation of power over the Ethernet networks, tremendous enterprise energy savings are realized.

The Power-over-Ethernet Consortium uses both IEEE802.3at and IEEE802.3af-compliant power sourcing equipment to test PoE products and software from both an interoperability and conformance perspective. The AS1854 Powered Device interoperability testing, for example, was conducted using PSEs from leading industry suppliers including Cisco, HP, Broadcom, Silicon Labs, Panasonic, Phihong and MicroSemi.