The second Group Test Period of the newly established Power over Ethernet consortium was held this month at the University of New Hampshire's InterOperability Laboratory.

The test period took place August 4-8. Seven companies participated in the test period, including: Avaya, Cisco Systems, Foundry Networks, Linear Technology, Nortel Networks, PowerDsine, and Texas Instruments. Visiting engineers from these participating companies spent the week alongside student engineers who executed the PoE Consortium's IEEE 802.3af tests.

Interoperability testing was performed on a complete matrix of Powered Devices and Power Sourcing Equipment. Private parametric testing was also performed on these.

"Parametric testing has improved extensively since the last Group Test Period and will continue to advance," says Gerard Nadeau, PoE consortium manager. "Feedback from members participating in the test event will be used to further develop our test procedures and test suites.

"As a result of this GTP, the number of powered devices in the consortium's test bed has more than doubled, resulting in a more comprehensive matrix of interoperability testing," Nadeau adds.

The following companies are members of the PoE consortium: 3Com, Avaya, Cisco Systems, Extreme Networks, Nortel Networks, PowerDsine, and Texas Instruments.

The laboratory is now looking for new members to expand its interoperability testbed. Another Power over Ethernet Group Test Period will be held later this year.

The laboratory was established in 1988. It is a non-profit organization that offers comprehensive interoperability and conformance-based testing through 15 technology-based groups.

The laboratory is based in Durham. For more information visit
www.iol.unh.edu/consortiums/poe.