Patent 11533196 was granted and assigned to Arista Networks on December, 2022 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Systems and methods for power distribution by an ethernet controller are disclosed. A first input port receives a first power carried by a first ethernet cable and sourced by a first source PoE device. A second input port receives a second power carried by a second ethernet cable and sourced by a second source PoE device. The first input port is at a first voltage lower than a minimum voltage of a specified input voltage range and the second input port is at a second voltage lower than the minimum voltage of the specified input voltage range. A controller, coupled to the first and second input ports, substantially equalizes current flowing across a first output port and a second output port, coupled to the downstream PoE devices, such that a load, caused by the downstream PoE devices, between the first output port and the second output port is shared.