Industry’s First Green Midspans Cut Energy Dissipation on Network Cables in Half

The Microsemi PowerDsine PD-5524G EEPoE midspan complies with IEEE802.3at 2009 standards for delivering up to 30 watts (W) of power to network devices including IP cameras, access control systems and thin clients, over the same standard CAT5 cabling as data. Microsemi is demonstrating its new midspans at Cisco Live London in booth #E87 Jan. 30-Feb. 3.

“Microsemi has achieved yet another major milestone in the energy-saving capabilities of PoE technology,” said Amir Asvadi, vice president and general manager of the Analog Mixed Signal Group at Microsemi. “Our PD-5524G EEPoE midspan extends the industry-leading efficiency of our PowerDsine family by using a smaller internal power supply that can later be augmented with external supplies to increase per-port capacity as power-hungry devices are added to the network. Customers can optimize their power infrastructure for the highest possible efficiency today, and increase power delivery as demand grows.”

Microsemi’s 24-port PD-5524G midspan cuts the Ethernet cable energy dissipation by 50 percent, which equates to 240 kilowatt hours (KWh) in annual energy savings assuming continuous operation across 12 ports at full power. With electricity costs averaging approximately $0.15/KWh, this reduction in energy usage can yield up to $600 in savings over a 16-year midspan product life cycle. Additional energy savings are possible using the PD-5524G midspan’s PowerView Pro secure remote power management features, which enable network administrators to monitor and control power devices (PDs) and their power consumption after hours and on holidays and weekends. Use of the PowerView Pro scheduler to restrict power delivery to five 12-hour weekday cycles can yield additional savings of $300 per year, or $4,800 over the midspan life cycle.

The PD-5524G midspan uses technology pioneered in the company’s PD-9500G family to significantly reduce power dissipation and energy consumption by delivering power over all four pairs of CAT5 cabling. The PD-5524G midspan is also the first to leverage a distributed power architecture, which enables smaller internal power supplies to be used for real-time requirements and then augmented incrementally, as needed, with Microsemi PowerDsine RPS 450 units or other external switching power supplies. The midspan supports 10/100/1000BaseT data rates and complies with IEEE802.3at standards to more easily support high-power devices such as PTZ cameras, WLAN access points and thin clients.

“Our EEPoE midspans reduce power losses up to 2.25W per link as compared to any alternative PoE solution currently available in the market, including PoE switches and PoE midspans,” said Sani Ronen, director of marketing for PoE systems at Microsemi. “The ability to add external power supplies not only delivers power scalability but also provides the means to back-up priority ports in the event of a primary supply failure. Multiple PD-5524G midspans also may be configured for mutual midspan-to-midspan backup.”

Microsemi’s PD-5524G EEPoE midspan reduces power dissipation for any standards-compliant PD that is attached to the network, including new PDs and any of the more than 100 million that have already been deployed. The company’s patented EEPoE technology is also used in its PD70x0x ICs, which implement four-pair powering and other techniques for minimizing power losses, dissipation and consumption to enable the development of smaller and more energy-efficient PDs. Microsemi’s EEPoE products are part of a broad range of both two- and four-pair, standard- and high-power PoE solutions, including PSE ICs, splitters, and both managed and unmanaged midspan products in single- to 24-port configurations, with secure remote management capabilities and both IPv4 and IPv6 addressing support.

Pricing and Availability
Microsemi’s PD-5524G EEPoE midspan is available in production volumes for a unit list price starting at $1,799.