PoE for the Home Broadband Gateway
Smart home applications such as video doorbells, thermostats, shades, locks and control panels are starting to be powered by Power over Ethernet (PoE). Microchip has PoE integrated circuits (ICs) to add the power sourcing to the home gateway, which is quickly becoming the home automation hub for all things connected.
What’s the most important electronic device you use each day? Most people will reply: a mobile phone or laptop. However, your broadband residential gateway, or home gateway as it’s termed, provides Internet access to your home – and it’s one of those “under the radar” electronic devices that many people tend to forget about. Think about how often you used your home internet connection during the past year while working from home.
A home gateway, also called a residential gateway, provides network connectivity between a Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN) through a modem or other device. The typical features in a home gateway include high-speed Internet, Ethernet router, Wi-Fi® access, home phone service and a home automation hub. According to IHS Markit, global manufacturers sell more than 250 million broadband gateways per year. And, the volumes are very consistent year over year.
Microchip creates a great total system solution for the home gateway with products including voice line circuits, line drivers, low-power wireless radios, Ethernet PHYs, power management ICs, and Power over Ethernet (PoE) ICs.
Wait, PoE for the home?
Yes. Let’s look at some of the latest uses for PoE in the home and why manufacturers are starting to include PoE power sourcing in the ever more critical home gateway.
Smart home applications such as video doorbells, thermostats, shades, locks and control panels can also be powered by PoE. Today these devices are typically installed in an existing light switch panel, which limits where they can be installed. When powered by PoE, these devices can be located anywhere within the home. Yes – you need to run an Ethernet cable. But these are relatively easy to install throughout a home and do not require a licensed electrician to do the installation. The PoE eliminates the need for a wall power socket near the device and provides the flexibility to install the device anywhere in the home.
A Wi-Fi extender is beneficial in larger homes or homes with thick interior walls that hinder the wireless signal. Some architectures use a Wi-Fi channel to connect the Wi-Fi extenders, but the Wi-Fi signal may not penetrate the walls efficiently. Like the smart home applications, a solution is to run Ethernet cable to the extender and power it with PoE.
Adding PoE power sourcing to the switch ports on the home gateway allows the gateway to power these PoE devices. Microchip has easy-to-follow reference designs for all PoE products. The PD69201 is a single-port power sourcing IC, while the PD69210 and PD69208 chipset provides a scalable solution for four or eight PoE ports.
Visit https://www.microchip.com/en-us/products/power-over-ethernet to learn more about Microchip PoE technology, PoE integrated circuits and PoE total system solutions.