Microchip Unveils 90W PoE Boosters for Legacy and IEEE Devices Without Changing Switches

Microchip has introduced a suite of PoE power‑boosting devices that allow both pre‑standard and IEEE‑compliant Powered Devices (PDs) to draw up to 90W without replacing existing switches or cabling. This solution simplifies the rollout of IEEE 802.3bt‑2018 injectors and midspans for users and provides developers with PSE chipsets that are fully interoperable.

As the industry moves toward the latest generation of PoE, users must integrate legacy PDs with new IEEE‑compliant units without costly infrastructure changes. Microchip’s new chipset bridges that gap, enabling seamless coexistence of pre‑standard and IEEE 802.3bt‑2018 PDs.

Prior to 2018, many vendors offered proprietary solutions such as Universal PoE (UPOE) and Power over HDBaseT (PoH), which met the higher power demands of two‑pair and four‑pair devices like kiosks, POS terminals, thin clients, Wi‑Fi access points, small cells, smart‑building equipment, industrial automation, and LED lighting. Microchip has long supplied a PSE chipset for the PoH four‑pair 95W standard; now it is the first to deliver an IEEE 802.3af/at/bt chipset that lets legacy switches power new IEEE 802.3bt‑2018 devices.

PoE injectors and midspans:

• Power any mix of pre‑standard and IEEE 802.3bt‑2018 PDs by installing a single‑ or multi‑port injector/midspan between the PD and the existing switch.
• Support both legacy and new switches, allowing current infrastructure to power future devices.

PSE chipset and supporting PDs:

• The chipset’s design distributes thermal load evenly across the board, enabling two‑pair and four‑pair operation from a single footprint. It provides full manager and controller functionality, supporting 90 – 99.9 W per port and up to 48 ports for IEEE 802.3bt Type 3 (Classes 1‑6) and Type 4 (Classes 7‑8) applications.
• Existing pre‑standard PSEs built on Microchip’s Gen 6 chipset can be upgraded to IEEE 802.3bt via a firmware update, eliminating hardware replacement.
• The dual‑pack IdealBridge MOSFET‑based full‑bridge rectifier on the powered side protects PDs from reverse polarity while reducing the space, cost, and power required for IEEE 802.3bt Type 4 Class 8 delivery.

Microchip’s IEEE 802.3bt‑2018 PSE family is available in bulk, including the PD69208M, PD69204T4, PD69208T4 managers and the PD69210 PoE controller. The PD70224 IdealBridge dual MOSFET‑bridge rectifier is also sold. Design resources—evaluation boards, application notes, firmware, GUI software, and protocol documentation—are downloadable. Injectors and midspans will ship in November 2019.