POWER MANAGEMENT FOR POWER-OVER-ETHERNET-CAPABLE SWITCH

• US 20110126032A1
• Filed: 01/31/2011
• Published: 05/26/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Khan, Umer, Venner, Kenneth E.
• Granted Patent: US 8,375,232 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/310
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3209 Monitoring remote activity, e.g. over telephone lines or network connections

Abstract

A system and method is described that allows a PoE-capable switch to selectively provide power to one or more remote devices in an instance where power being supplied to the switch itself is limited or failing. In one embodiment, the switch receives a notification from an uninterruptable power supply (UPS) and, in response to receiving the notification, selectively provides power to one or more devices powered by the switch. Selectively providing power to one or more of the devices may include providing power to only a subset of the devices, providing a different amount of power to different ones of the devices, or providing power for different durations to different ones of the devices. In an alternate embodiment, in response to receiving the notification, the switch communicates with a remote device and causes the remote device to activate at least one power saving feature.

Claims

1. A method for performing power management by a Power over Ethernet (PoE) capable switch, comprising:

obtaining current power consumption state information from a plurality of remote devices that are connected to the PoE-capable switch via respective Ethernet cables and that receive data and power from the PoE-capable switch via the respective Ethernet cables;

receiving a notification indicating that a power source of the PoE-capable switch is limited or failing; and

responsive to receiving the notification, selectively providing power to one or more of the plurality of remote devices connected to the PoE-capable switch based on the current power consumption state information obtained from the one or more remote devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the current power consumption state information from the plurality of remote devices comprises:

obtaining information that indicates whether a remote device is in an active or inactive state.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the current power consumption state information from the plurality of remote devices comprises:

obtaining information that indicates whether a remote device that can be placed in one of a powered-up, powered-down or standby state is in the powered-up, powered-down or standby state.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the notification indicating that the power source of the PoE-capable switch is limited or failing comprises receiving a notification from an uninterruptable power supply (UPS).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively providing power to the one or more remote devices connected to the PoE-capable switch comprises providing power to only a subset of the plurality of remote devices connected to the PoE-capable switch.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively providing power to one or more of the plurality of remote devices connected to the PoE-capable switch comprises providing a different amount of power to different ones of the plurality of remote devices connected to the PoE-capable switch.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively providing power to one or more of the plurality of remote devices connected to the PoE-capable switch comprises providing power for different fixed time periods to different ones of the plurality of remote devices connected to the PoE-capable switch.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively providing power to one or more of the plurality of remote devices connected to the PoE-capable switch comprises selectively providing power based also on preconfigured data associated with one or more ports of the PoE-capable switch.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

obtaining the preconfigured data from a remote management server.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively providing power to one or more of the plurality of remote devices connected to the PoE-capable switch comprises:

making a first power supply determination for one of the plurality of remote devices and selectively providing power to the one of the plurality of remote devices based on the first power supply determination; and

subsequently making a second power supply determination for the one of the plurality of remote devices and selectively providing power to the one of the plurality of remote devices based on the second power supply determination.

11. A Power over Ethernet (PoE) capable switch, comprising:

a plurality of ports, each of the plurality of ports adapted for connection to a remote device via a respective Ethernet cable;

PoE logic connected to the plurality of ports, the PoE logic controllable to provide power to selected ones of the plurality of ports for delivery to a remote device connected thereto;

control logic connected to the PoE logic and configured to control the operation thereof; and

a data interface connected to the control logic;

wherein the data interface is configured to receive a notification indicating that a power source of the PoE-capable switch is limited or failing, and

wherein the control logic includes power management logic that is configured to obtain current power consumption information from a plurality of remote devices that are respectively connected to the plurality of ports and to control the PoE logic to selectively provide power to the plurality of ports responsive to receipt of the notification by the data interface and based on the obtained current power consumption information.

12. The PoE-capable switch of claim 11, wherein the data interface comprises one of an RS232 interface, a universal serial bus (USB) interface, an Ethernet interface, an IEEE 802.11 interface or a Bluetooth®

interface.

13. The PoE-capable switch of claim 11, wherein the power management logic is configured to control the PoE logic to provide power to only a subset of the plurality of ports.

14. The PoE-capable switch of claim 11, wherein the power management logic is configured to control the PoE logic to provide a different amount of power to different ones of the plurality of ports.

15. The PoE-capable switch of claim 11, wherein the power management logic is configured to control the PoE logic to provide power for different fixed time periods to different ones of the plurality of ports.

16. The PoE-capable switch of claim 11, wherein the power management logic is configured to control the PoE logic to selectively provide power to the plurality of ports based also on preconfigured data associated with one or more of the plurality of ports.

17. The PoE-capable switch of claim 16, wherein the power management logic is configured to obtain the preconfigured data from a remote management server.

18. A method for performing power management by a Power over Ethernet (PoE) capable switch, wherein the PoE-capable switch is connected to a plurality of remote devices over respective Ethernet cables and is operable to provide both data and power to each of the plurality of remote devices over the same Ethernet cable, the method comprising:

receiving a notification indicating that a power source of the PoE-capable switch is limited or failing;

responsive to receiving the notification, selecting by the PoE switch at least one of a plurality of power saving features supported by a selected one of the remote devices and communicating with the selected remote device to indicate to the selected remote device to implement the selected at least one power saving feature.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein receiving a notification indicating that a power source of the PoE-capable switch is limited or failing comprises receiving a notification from an uninterruptable power supply (UPS).

20. A Power over Ethernet (PoE) capable switch, comprising:

a plurality of ports, each of the plurality of ports adapted for connection to a remote device via a respective Ethernet cable;

PoE logic connected to the plurality of ports, the PoE logic controllable to provide power to selected ones of the plurality of ports for delivery to a remote device connected thereto;

control logic connected to the PoE logic and configured to control the operation thereof; and

a data interface connected to the control logic;

wherein the data interface is configured to receive a notification indicating that a power source of the PoE-capable switch is limited or failing, and

wherein the control logic includes power management logic that is configured to select at least one of a plurality of power saving features supported by a particular remote device connected to one of the plurality of ports and to communicate with the particular remote device to indicate to the particular remote device to implement the selected at least one power saving feature responsive to receipt of the notification by the data interface.

21. The PoE-capable switch of claim 20, wherein the data interface comprises one of an RS232 interface, a universal serial bus (USB) interface, an Ethernet interface, an IEEE 802.11 interface or a Bluetooth®

interface.