随着物联网的指数增长以及无数的传感器，相机，控制器和其他远程设备在世界范围内广泛部署，对以太网的权力（POE）已成为更简化的部署和更大成本节省的领先解决方案。更重要的是，随着为服务越来越多的移动连接的公众服务所需的无线访问点的增加，标准的问题和设备的可靠互操作性已成为最前沿的问题。
In particular, what has been needed to overcome confusion in the PoE ecosystem, and prepare equipment suppliers, end users, and installers for a growing and more complex Ethernet ecosystem, is a readily available testing suite that delivers on the interoperability promise of IEEE 802.3 PoE standards.
作为回应，许多参与标准发展的人在主持下召集以太网联盟启动第二代POE认证计划。就像与个人计算机相关的著名“ Intel Inside”品牌，该认证计划基于标记设备，具有“ EA认证” POE徽标以识别端口属性。它在整个生态系统中带来了许多好处 - 所有这些都会对ROI产生积极影响。该徽标为POE剥离系统中的各个利益相关者提供了“内部互操作性”的承诺。
In developing the certification program, the team first identified the key benefits for all principles working in the PoE space as summarized in thetableabove. These include:
简化安装
The logo itself is visually straightforward, simply showing “arrow out, power out” and “arrow in, power in.” Clearly, the number on the load needs to be less than or equal to the number on the switch. This was a key issue in Gen1 of the certification program.
但是，现在，而不是开关主要在所有端口上发送相同类型的功率（例如2类），而是在24端口机箱上更有可能的未来情况可能是四个端口，以发送4到8个端口，四到八在3型和剩下的是类型2中，对于安装人员来说，随着POE安装变得越来越复杂，这将变得更具挑战性。“ EA认证”解决方案允许安装程序快速查看开关端口标签，而不必打开指令手册并确切确定在特定功率级别设置的端口。
增强的客户支持
Overall, equipment manufacturers with the “EA Certified” PoE logo can not only expect fewer calls, but they can also achieve lower support costs for customer calls by deferring those from non-certified suppliers, particularly in an environment where there’s diminishing support from system vendors.
将来，客户在报告互操作性挑战时可能会期望的第一个问题是“电缆的两侧是否具有徽标？”任何一方都没有徽标的任何方面都将成为任何继续调试努力的重点。在生态系统上的进一步上游，IC供应商也可以更快地将注意力集中在调试工作中。
对于设备安装程序，徽标将通过大大减少安装时间以及安装设备的可能性会经历导致故障的负载的可能性来改善最终用户的结果。因此，安装人员可以节省时间并增加POE部署，并具有更大的故障排除功能，并大大减少了呼叫回音的额外好处。
Improved End-Customer Perception
Because the logo signifies a range of benefits, having it increases the value proposition of PoE for the end customer. This is very much in line with the aforementioned “Interoperability inside” model and can positively impact everyone in the channel.
许多在POE领域工作的人都认为，除了其功率限制之外，最重要的是阻碍Poe采用的百分比，这是没有人明确定义和公认的POE愿景。市场上存在太多混乱。尽管有几十年的标准，但没有人承认的测试套件将标准套件转化为认证测试和易于识别的标记。
To overcome this, the Ethernet Alliance is leveraging its expertise and recognition as a leader of advancing Ethernet technologies to establish a logo that clearly defines PoE so that people will look for it as part of their decision-making when purchasing equipment.
降低评估成本，更快的市场时间
考虑一个更小的末端设备制造商might only ship 100,000 switches, and maybe only one model that integrates the PoE feature. Hypothetically, the company may only be shipping 5,000 PoE models. Even if you already have an existing validation suite to test for PoE functionality under the IEEE 802.3at standard, there’s still a whole lot of work to get ready for the latest standard and to validate your switch at a black-box level.
By trusting in the Ethernet Alliance PoE certification and logo, you needn’t worry about the nuts and bolts of incorporating a PoE feature. Providing end-equipment manufacturers with this level of confidence ultimately saves on evaluation costs and allows them to significantly reduce equipment cycle timelines in order to bring products to market faster and cheaper.
Alleviate Additional Development Costs
Because the Ethernet Alliance PoE certification program is the first test validation platform that assures conformance to IEEE 802.3bt, switch and end-device manufacturers now have a means other than relying on data from chip and PoE controller suppliers, which might not deliver full confidence of compliance to the standard.
An affordable official third-party test suite alleviates companies from having to develop a program in-house thats confirm its equipment is IEEE 802.3bt-compatible. And, pursuing the certification program and logo attribution provides the opportunity to identify issues early on prior to installation, avoiding the high cost of fixing problems post deployment. These costs, in particular, are extremely painful to both the pocketbook and long-term perceived quality of the manufacturer. Just one of these “in field” interoperability issues could cost millions of dollars in new development and/or foregone opportunity costs.
对于想要充分利用POE部署的公司而言，现在有一个选择从纯粹的ROI角度具有很大的意义。看着tableagain, it’s hard to imagine a scenario that doesn’t return on an investment of ~$25,000-30,000 (annualized) for the end-equipment manufacturers themselves. While hard to estimate, lower customer-service costs alone will offset the modest costs, and avoiding (or deferring to the non-logoed side of the troubling system) even one significant interoperability issue can easily save a company thousands of dollars in debug.
The evolution of Ethernet is continuing at a notable pace and PoE is positioned to experience considerable growth over the coming years. Interoperability of PoE equipment and assured reliability of devices for end users is essential. Once earned, the “EA Certified” PoE logo visual aid delivers benefits for all stakeholders in the PoE space.
To learn more about the Ethernet Alliance PoE Certification Program, visithttps://ethernetalliance.org/poecert/。
Thomas Lewis is an以太网联盟member and Marketing & Applications Manager for Power over Ethernet (PoE) Solutions at德州仪器公司。
