Abstract: An apparatus and method is disclosed to manage multiple power supplies in a Power over Ethernet (PoE) communication system. The PoE communication system provides PoE to one or more powered devices (PDs) using one or more DC voltage supplies. The PoE communication system includes a power source equipment (PSE) controller that monitors the one or more DC voltage supplies based on the dynamic needs of one or more PDs using power status indicators received via a power bank data interface. The PSE controller includes a multiple power supply management (MPSM) module to receive the power status indicators via the power bank data interface. The MPSM module compares the values of received power status indicators with default or stored power status indicators.

Abstract: A packet processing system may include a processor, a cache, a memory controller, and at least one packet interface circuit integrated into a single integrated circuit. In one embodiment (which may be used in integrated or non-integrated systems), the packet interface circuit is configured to cause allocation in the cache of a portion of a received packet. In one embodiment (which may be used in integrated or non-integrated systems), the memory controller may be configured to selectively block memory transactions. Particularly, the memory controller may implement at least two block signals, one for the packet interface circuit and one for other devices. The block signals may be used to control the initiation of memory transactions when the memory controller's input queue is approaching fullness.