Abstract: The invention relates to a powered device (2) like a luminaire for being used in a power distribution system (100), which is preferentially a PoE system and which comprises a power sourcing device (1) for sourcing a power to the powered device. The powered device comprises an electrical load like an LED and an electrical load power providing unit for generating from the sourced power an electrical load power and for providing the electrical load power to the electrical load, wherein the electrical load power providing unit is adapted to generate the electrical load power with a power level such that an input current drawn by the powered device from the power sourcing device is maximized below a predefined upper input current threshold. This allows increasing the power consumption of the powered device in comparison to the power consumption of powered devices in accordance with the PoE standard IEEE 802.3at.

Abstract: The invention relates to a power splitter for a variable number of loads, a power splitting method for a variable number of loads and a software product for power splitting. It is possible to provide power splitting for a variable number of loads, which allows for an efficient distribution of power while reducing unnecessary overhead, with the determination of an overall power demand for the variable number of loads being concentrated in the power splitter, which may then request the desired amount of power from the power supply.

Abstract: The invention relates to a power distribution system, such as a Power over Ethernet power distribution system. A powered device provides a pulse, such as a Maintain Power Signature, when in standby such that a power providing device remains providing power to it. To increase energy efficiency, the MPS can be cycled (60 ms pulse every 300 ms to 400 ms) according to the IEEE802.3af/at standards. By introducing a controllable switch, for electrically decoupling at least part of the powered device from the power providing device, and a pulse generator, the MPS can be generated in a more energy efficient way and/or can be shortened (e.g. to 5 ms). As an example, the controllable switch can decouple the bulk capacitor of the powered device during MPS generation to prevent the bulk capacitor from filtering out the MPS.

Abstract: An article of manufacture (130) for protecting a capacitive power transfer system (100) from electrical breakdowns is disclosed. The article of manufacture comprises a non-conductive layer (210) made of a first type of non-conductive material, and a protection layer (220) made of a second type of non-conductive material, wherein a breakdown voltage of the second type of non-conductive material is higher than a breakdown voltage of the first type of non-conductive material, wherein the protection layer covers only a portion of the non-conductive layer, where in the non-conductive layer and the protection layer form an insulating layer (130) of the capacitive power transfer system.

Abstract: The invention relates to a power providing device (1), a power receiving device (2) and a corresponding method of providing power from a power providing device (1) to multiple power receiving devices (2) allowing for a reduction of the power consumed in stand-by situations. The invention provides for a distribution system allowing for providing standby assistance low voltage allowing for increased efficiency operation.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a powered device (331a, 331b, 531a) with two interfacing connections. The powered device (331a, 331b, 531a) comprises power switching units (350a, 350b, 550a1, 550a2) for forwarding the data signal as well the power received on the input to the output. Forwarding may be based on a detection of the powering state of the PD. In another embodiment, the Power-over-Ethernet input/output ports function bi-directionally, thereby allowing the user to daisy-chain devices in any direction. As power switching units, relays or solid-state power switches may be used.

Abstract: The invention relates to a powered device (2) like a luminaire for being used in a power distribution system (100), which is preferentially a PoE system and which comprises a power supply device (1). The powered device includes an electrical load like a light source, a voltage measurement unit for measuring a voltage received by the powered device, and an electrical load power providing unit for transforming power supplied by the power supply device to an electrical load power to be provided to the electrical load, wherein the power level of the electrical load power depends on the measured voltage. This allows adapting the power intake to the really received voltage, which may be reduced due to losses like cable losses, which in turn can lead to an increased intake power in comparison to the intake power of powered devices in accordance with the actual Po E IEEE 802.3at standard.

Abstract: The invention relates to a system (1) comprising a controlling device (4) like a sensor for controlling a controlled device (5) like a luminaire, a trigger unit (7) for generating a trigger signal, and an assigning unit (6) for assigning the controlling device and the controlled device to each other, if the trigger signal has been generated, wherein the controlling device controls the controlled device, if they have been assigned to each other. This allows an installer to generate assignments between the controlling device and the controlled device very easily. The installer just needs to connect the controlling and controlled devices, which should be assigned to each other, to the system and actuate the trigger unit. For instance, it can relatively easily be defined which luminaires should react on signals from which sensors.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a Powered Device (PD) in a Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) system. The invention proposes that the PD selectively transmit to a Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE) a power request based on the support of that PSE for autoclass. An autoclass supporting PSE will determine the maximum power that needs to be allocated to the PD based on measuring the power used by the autoclass supporting PD during classification. If the PSE does not support autoclass, it will instead allocate a default maximum power (based on the classification) to the PD. When the PD is operational it determines whether autoclass is supported by the PSE (230). If autoclass is supported then no power request should be sent (250) as otherwise the PSE will allocate power based on this request instead of on the more accurate measurement.

Abstract: The invention relates a system for controlling distribution of power to load elements via network connections (e.g. LAN). Low cost luminaires or other load elements can be powered via LAN connections (e.g. by power over Ethernet (PoE)) without featuring an Internet Protocol (IP) node. This is attractive because with such a system the installation cost down benefits of PoE can be applied also to installations that do not require advanced controls. This means that to switch them on or off, the power supply on the LAN port of the switch must be enabled or disabled. When load elements and load controllers (e.g. lighting controllers or light switches) are connected to the same switch, they are automatically paired to each other. This can be achieved through use of a network management protocol capability that some network switches have. This allows for easy installation and automatic intuitive commissioning.

Abstract: The invention relates to a power providing device (2) for providing power to a plurality of power receiving devices (31), a power distribution system including such power providing device (2), a method for providing power to a plurality of power receiving devices (31) and a corresponding computer program. During standby the power providing device (2) is beneficially supplied with power coming from a power source (1) dedicated or adjusted for the low energy consumption, e.g. a uplink port (23) or a shared power bus. The current drawn from such power source (1) (or the power provided to the downlink power receiving devices (31)) is measured and, for example, the derivative is used in order detecting a current increase just when it starts. This information may be used such the main power supply (29) gets started in order to be available for more power demand than available through the hierarchical powering coming from the standby power source (1).

Abstract: A method, computer program product and device for generating a power signal are provided. In a power distribution system (e.g. PoE), a device (2) (e.g. PD) comprising at least one capacitor (e.g. bulk capacitor) parallel to a load (26) of the device, is powered by a power supply (1) (e.g. PSE). The power supply (1) is arranged for powering the device (2) when at least a minimum current (e.g. MPS) is drawn by the device (2) from the power supply (1). The device (2) determines, by measuring the voltage over the at least one capacitor, whether the current is drawn (partially) from the at least one capacitor. In which case the device (2) is controlled to draw current such that at least a minimum current is drawn from the power supply (1) and the power supply (1) remains powering the device (2).

Abstract: The present invention relates to an adaptive power providing device and a method for adaptively providing power to multiple power receiving devices. A power providing device detects at its plugs or ports power drawn by the power receiving devices and adjusts the related port power budget if the drawn power consistently grows over time, thereby avoiding overpower switch-off.

Abstract: The invention relates to a power providing system (1) comprising a power providing device (2) like a PSE and an electrical device (4) like a PD. In a classification mode in a first phase the power providing device provides one or several voltage pulses and the electrical device draws one or several classification current pulses for indicating the class of the electrical device, wherein in a second phase the power providing device provides one or several voltage pulses for indicating the class of the power providing device. Thus, the indication of the classes of the electrical device and of the power providing device is decoupled in two different phases, which can lead to an improved mutual classification procedure.

Abstract: A lighting system, an identification system and an identification device for a lighting system, wherein the lighting system comprises a plurality of components. The identification device comprises a transmitter adapted to receive an identification request, and a signaling apparatus comprising a control unit and one or more signaling devices, wherein the control unit is adapted to control the one or more signaling devices so that, in response to receipt of the identification request, an identification signal is produced that alerts a human to a location or direction of one or more of the components.

Abstract: The invention relates to powering one or more devices, in particular in the context of Power-over-Ethernet (PoE). In an embodiment of the invention, it is proposed to equip each node (11) with a PD interface (22) that can signal multiples of the standard defined unity load (25 k? with tolerances) during the detection process and increase the load during a sequence of detection attempts. In that way, several nodes (11) can share one PSE outlet and determine the number of neighboring loads (11). At the same time, each node (11) will offer full functionality during “normal” stand-alone wiring. This powering concept can be combined with full or limited data communication capabilities.

Abstract: The present invention relates to Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) systems. The invention proposes to use a classification event to communicate from the PD (121) to the PSE (110, 910). A sensor (310, 410, 510a, 510b) may determine a sensor value, shut down the PoE connection, and reconnect so that the power up cycle with the PSE (110, 910) will start. The sensor (310, 410, 510a, 510b) provides a PoE resistance related to a class 0, 3 where the class relates to the sensor value (e.g., class 0=presence detected; class 1=no presence detected). This procedure may be repeated (e.g. continuously, every minute or whenever the sensor value changes such that the PSE (110, 910) needs to be informed) and if needed multiple cycles can be used to increase the length of the message communicated.

Abstract: A lighting system, an identification system and an identification device for a lighting system, wherein the lighting system comprises a plurality of components. The identification device comprises a transmitter adapted to receive an identification request, and a signaling apparatus comprising a control unit and one or more signaling devices, wherein the control unit is adapted to control the one or more signaling devices so that, in response to receipt of the identification request, an identification signal is produced that alerts a human to a location or direction of one or more of the components.

Abstract: The invention relates a method and apparatus for distributing power in DC-grid systems, wherein power negotiations are done in a daisy chained system. Multiple mechanisms are presented mitigating the issue of stepwise exploring the power requests along a chain and still keeping the negotiation quick and without many cycles required.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a load control system in which a power cable of a DC or AC is used for on/off control and dimming of connected load devices without adding significant hardware structure. The control is achieved through a change in the DC or AC bus voltage. A grid controller can perform on/off control and dimming for an entire group of connected load devices by changing the bus voltage. Connected load devices that do understand or want to make use of this feature will be unaffected. In order to reduce the effects of voltage drop, a calibration procedure is provided. The calibration procedure first triggers the connected load devices into a calibration mode and then initiates a number of predefined output level commands that allow the load devices to build an individual correction for the undesired voltage drop.