The May 2104 interim meeting of the IEEE802.3bt task force was recently held in Norfolk, Virginia. Over the course of three days, the task force heard approximately 20 presentations including ad hoc reports, technical contributions, and baseline text proposals. All of the presentations can be found on the public website.
One thing I am happy to report is that the task force has begun the process of building the new standard by adopting baseline text for the first time. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the process, text for the new standard (or modification of the existing clause 33 text) is presented as baseline text in presentations given to the task force. If a motion is called to adopt the text, it must be approved by 75% of the people in the room (counting only those who vote yes or no). The editor then takes the baseline text and includes it in the working draft of the standard.
We adopted two baseline text proposals during the May interim. The first set of baseline text approved addressed the need for lower standby power and set forth the maintain power signature (MPS) behavior for new PSEs and PDs. The second collection of baseline text approved both modified the existing text and added new text to allow powering over 4 pairs. Both sets of text were adopted with unanimous motions (full disclosure: I was a coauthor on both baseline text proposals). You can find the presentation with all the straw polls and motions taken in Norfolk here.
Another key development coming out of Norfolk is the formation of two new ad hoc committees. The first new ad hoc will study the question of if we can power existing Type 1 and Type 2 PDs over 4 pairs. The second new ad hoc will collect use cases for 4 pair power delivery so that we can consider them when crafting the new standard. In addition, the two existing ad hocs, one dealing with pair-to-pair current unbalance and one dealing with cabling requirements for high power, were both reinstated for another cycle.
What do you think? Are you as excited as I am that we have broken through and adopted our first baseline text? What questions do you have after looking over the presentations given in Norfolk? Ask in the comments below and I will do my best to answer them.
PoE resources:
- Read all IEEE blogs here