Valerie Maguire, distinguished engineer with Siemon and a prolific contributor to cabling and networking standards-development organizations, recently appeared on a podcast during which she provided detail on standards related to Single Pair Ethernet. Maguire served as chief editor of the IEEE’s 802.3cg amendment, which was specifies 10-Mbit/sec operation and power delivery over a single pair of conductors. That Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) standard was published last year. Maguire also volunteered to edit the specifications that come from the IEEE’s 802.3da task force, which is working on enhancements that will include SPE operation over multi-drop segments.

In the 10-minute interview, Maguire delves into topics including how SPE can support operational technology (OT) systems that traditionally have been controlled using proprietary protocols and cables; the compatibility of single-pair and four-pair cabling technologies; and objectives of the forthcoming IEEE 802.3da specifications.

Concerning the compatibility of single-pair and four-pair systems, Maguire comments, “From a 10,000-foot view, the goal is that any device on the IT/OT converged network can be accessed, and instructed to behave in a certain way, based on the status of any other device in the building ecosystem.” Achieving this will require traditionally independent building automation systems (BAS), and other operational systems, to be integrated into the IT network.

Valerie Maguire’s podcast interview with Liz Goldsmith of the TIA’s Single Pair Ethernet Consortium can be viewed below.