Power Integrations Introduces Reference Design Kit for Multi-class PoE Powered Devices
Power Integrations (Nasdaq: POWI) introduced a new reference design kit for Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) Powered Devices (PDs). The rapid growth of the PoE PD market is being driven by the wide adoption of network appliances, wireless LANs and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephones. Power Integrations has addressed the needs of this high-growth market by providing a reference design to help speed prototyping and delivery of standards-compliant PoE PDs. The reference design combines a multi-class PoE interface and DC-DC switching circuit built around the company's monolithic DPA-Switch® family of ICs.
"Our new PoE reference design kit offers an excellent solution for reducing time-to-market of PoE PDs," said Andrew Smith, DC-DC product marketing manager for Power Integrations. "The circuit design is fully compliant with the IEEE 802.3af standard for PoE PDs, and early adopters are finding that it offers a highly effective, low-cost solution to jumpstart their network appliance designs."
The reference design kit supports the design of all current classes of PoE PDs (Class 0 to Class 3) and a power range up to 12.95 W. A designer can change the class of a design by replacing a single resistor. The design carries out PoE signature and classification functions, while the integrated DPA-Switch device manages all the primary DC-DC switching and control functions. The complete circuit requires only 16 components and costs about one-third less than designs based on integrated PoE interface/controller ICs. The PI circuit design was tested by the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Consortium (UNH-IOC) using a comprehensive suite of power sending equipment (PSE), and was shown to meet IEEE 802.3af requirements in all cases.
The PoE Class 2 PD Reference Design Kit (DAK-86) is available today from PI and its authorized distributors. Pricing is $100. The design kit contains a 3.3 V, 2 A Class 2 power supply, samples of the DPA-Switch family and design software plus a comprehensive engineering report including a circuit description and schematic, test results and transformer design information.
