IEEE sets up 802.3 4-pair PoE study group

"The formation of this study group will allow collaboration on a proposal for the development of a 4-pair PoE standard, which would allow support of new PoE applications in the areas of IPTV, industrial Ethernet and more," indicated David Law, chair of the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Working Group. "A 4-pair approach would result in increased efficiency, since the use of additional pairs results in lower channel resistance."

"PoE has become the dominant powering method in many Ethernet-based products—access points and IP phones, for example—demonstrating that customers will migrate towards convenience," said Chad Jones, chair of the IEEE 802.3 4-pair Power over Ethernet Study Group. "Enabling applications beyond 25.5W will extend this convenience to other products. An additional benefit is the reduction of power lost in the delivery channel by at least half. This benefit can be extended to existing powered products by moving from a 2-pair powering system to a new 4-pair powering system."