ICM foot-print with UPOE support

US9577887B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Cisco Technology, Inc. · US

Inventors

• William Frank Edwards · Livermore, US
• Keith Frank Tharp · San Jose, US
• Ken Naumann · Livermore, US
• Amrik S. Bains · Livermore, US
• Clark Carty · Brunswick, US
• Alan Yee · Los Gatos, US
• Arvind Kansal · Cupertino, US
• Samir Bouadjel · Los Gatos, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 6, 2014
• Grant date: Feb 21, 2017
• Expiry date: Dec 19, 2034

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04L69/323
• WIPO field: Digital communication
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

Power Over Ethernet (POE)/universal power over Ethernet (UPoE) may be enabled at multigigabit port-channel connections. This may allow for additional speed support in auto-negotiation messages while employing multigigabit speeds. An integrated connector module (referred to herein as a “ICM”) compatible with UPoE with a modified local physical layer (PHY) circuit may be capable of supporting multi-gigabit data rates (such as between 1 G to 10 G, e.g., 2.5 G and 5 G) as to not limit the data rates to 1 G. The ICM may provide multi-gig data transmission through a first plurality of pins comprising a multi-gig data pin area. Furthermore, the ICM may provide UPoE power to support the multi-gig transmission through a second plurality of pins comprising a UPoE power pin area.