Silicon Laboratories Inc.

Silison Laboratories Inc.

D Matthew Landry

Russell J Apfel

Richard Bruce Webb

John Christopher Gammel

Phillip Callahan

Alejandro Velez

A circuit device includes a diode bridge having a first power input and a second power input and having a first output terminal and a second output terminal. The diode bridge includes a plurality of diodes and a respective plurality of diode bypass elements associated with the plurality of diodes. The circuit device further includes a logic circuit to detect a power event at the first and second power inputs and to selectively activate one or more of the respective plurality of diode bypass elements in response to detecting the power event to limit a rectified power supply at the first and second output terminals.

Circuit device and method of suppressing a power event

In a particular embodiment, a power sourcing equipment (PSE) device includes at least one network port adapted to couple to a powered device to provide power and optionally data to the powered device via a network cable. The PSE device further includes a current limiter circuit coupled to the at least one network port and having an adjustable threshold. The PSE device also includes a logic circuit coupled to the current limiter circuit and adapted to reduce the adjustable threshold of the current limiter circuit to have a threshold level that is below a nominal operating current level. After a period of time has elapsed during which the current limiter circuit is not activated, the logic circuit is adapted to determine that the powered device is disconnected from the at least one network port.

Circuit device and method of current limit-based disconnect detection

A method is disclosed that includes receiving a classification voltage at a powered device from a network. The classification voltage includes a baseline voltage level that is below an operating voltage range of the powered device and includes a sequence of distinct signal elements derived from the classification voltage. The method further includes detecting a number of signal elements of the sequence of distinct signal elements. A current is drawn until the number of signal elements exceeds a predetermined number.

System and method of classification in power over ethernet systems

In a particular embodiment, a method includes receiving a powered device (PD) detection signal at a PD from a powered network and applying the PD detection signal to an external resistor to provide a detection signature to the powered network. Further, the method includes receiving a PD classification mark signal at the PD, applying the received PD classification mark signal to the external resistor, and selectively activating a classification mark current path in parallel with the external resistor to produce a classification mark signature.

Powered device including a multi-use detection resistor

In a particular embodiment, a circuit device includes a first die coupled to a circuit substrate and having a substantially planar surface. The first die includes electrical contacts distributed on the substantially planar surface adjacent to at least three edges of the first die. The circuit device further includes a second die attached to the substantially planar surface of the first die. The second die is rotated by an offset angle about an axis relative to the first die. The offset angle is selected to allow horizontal and vertical access to the electrical contacts.

Circuit device including rotated stacked die

In a particular embodiment, a system includes an input/output (I/O) interface adapted to couple to a network cable to receive power and data and includes a physical transport layer (PHY) circuit including multiple channels coupled to the I/O interface. The PHY circuit is adapted to send data to and receive data from a network device via the multiple channels. The system further includes a multiplexer circuit coupled to the PHY circuit to multiplex data from the multiple channels into a multiplexed data stream and includes an isolation barrier circuit coupled to the multiplexer circuit and to a particular circuit. The isolation barrier is adapted to electrically isolate a particular circuit from the multiplexer circuit, the PHY circuit, and the I/O interface.

System and method of providing electrical isolation

A power sourcing equipment (PSE) device is disclosed that includes an interface adapted to communicate with a powered device via wire pairs of a cable, a power supply circuit adapted to provide power to the interface, and device detection logic to detect the powered device coupled to the interface. The PSE device further includes power classification logic coupled to the interface and adapted to provide a power classification signal to the powered device. The power classification signal includes a first power classification signal and a second power classification signal to identify a power classification associated with the powered device. The power classification logic monitors the interface to detect a device classification response from the powered device and determines the power classification associated with the powered device based on the device classification response.

A powered device includes a first supply terminal, a second supply terminal, and at least one input pin coupled to the first supply terminal. The powered device further includes an external capacitor having a first terminal coupled to the first supply terminal, a switch coupled to the second supply terminal and coupled to a second terminal of the external capacitor, and power surge detection logic coupled to the switch. The external capacitor is charged in response to a detected power surge that exceeds a threshold.

System and method of surge protection in a powered device

A method is provided that includes receiving a detection voltage at a powered device from a powered network, applying the detection voltage to an external resistor to provide a detection signature to the powered network, and applying a reference voltage to the external resistor to generate a reference current after the detection signature has been provided to the powered network.

Powered device including a detection signature resistor

A method is provided that includes receiving a classification voltage at a powered device from a powered network and providing a classification signature to the powered network in response to receiving the classification voltage to specify a power requirement of the powered device. The method further includes deriving a reference current within the powered device and adjusting a current limit as a function of the reference current.

Powered device including a classification signature resistor

A powered device includes a power supply input, a diode bridge, and a power loss detector. The power supply input is responsive to an external power source. The diode bridge has an input to receive at least one power supply input. The power loss detector includes an input responsive to the power supply input. The power loss detector is adapted to detect a power loss event and to initiate a power shutdown. In one embodiment, the powered device includes a load circuit to receive a power supply voltage from the diode bridge. The load circuit is responsive to the power loss detector to perform a power shutdown operation.

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Austin, TX, United States of America

D Matthew Landry