New Industry Products

POE Plus for Harsh Environments

October 30, 2014 by Jeff Shepard

MEN Micro Inc. has released the G304, a 3U CompactPCI Serial unmanaged Ethernet switch. The rugged switch uses Power over Ethernet Plus (PoE+) and a direct Ethernet to CPU connection via the P1 connector for reliable communications in several harsh and mobile applications. The switch comes with four Gigabit Ethernet ports via RJ45 on the front, however M12 connectors can be used for added robustness. The additional Ethernet channel on the rear uses PCI-Express on the P1 connector for a direct CPU connection, and a sixth Gigabit Ethernet channel can be optionally provided on the P6 connector.

The PoE+ functionality increases power throughput to allow an easy—but strong—power supply of up to 30W for all other system components, while the maximum power available for one G304 is limited to 60W. As a result of the integrated self-test mechanisms and its rugged construction, the new Gigabit Ethernet switch is a very reliable component in communication systems. It supports full and half duplex, fast non-blocking store-and-forward switching and auto-negotiation as well as Quality of Service (QoS) support to IEEE 802.1p.

The new G304 also conforms to the EN 50155 railway standard and is certified for operation in the extended temperature range of -40 degrees C to +85 degrees C. All components are soldered to withstand shock and vibration and are prepared for conformal coating. Using a configuration EEPROM, the G304 can be specifically tailored to an application's requirements (fixed management configuration). This includes features such as 802.1p priority and port-based priority, port-based VLAN or VLAN-IDs according to IEEE 802.1q.

Technical specifications include: 3U CompactPCI Serial unmanaged Ethernet switch with PoE+ functionality; EN 51055 compliant rugged construction for reliable operation in harsh environments; Up to six Gigabit Ethernet ports: four standard on front, up to 2 on rear; Integrated self-test mechanisms; Supports full/half duplex, fast non-blocking store-and-forward switching, auto-negotiation and QoS support to IEEE 802.1p. Pricing for the G304 is $630 USD. Delivery is six to eight weeks ARO.