Massachusetts electronics company Analog Devices has announced what it claims is world-first technology to drive greater levels of intelligence in smart buildings, factory automation and other applications at the edge of traditional networks.

The single-pair power over Ethernet (SPoE) power sourcing equipment (PSE) and power devices (PDs) facilitate powered, last-kilometre connectivity for factory and building automation through real-time power management, telemetry, low standby power consumption and ease of installation.

“The intelligent edge is one of the most exciting developments of the digital era as computing power is pushed to previously inaccessible applications and locations,” said Leo McHugh, vice president of industrial automation at Analog Devices. “Analog Devices is committed to delivering the unrivalled technology our customers need to leverage the full potential of the intelligent edge in smart buildings and factories as well as many more applications in the future.”

The LTC4296-1 and LTC9111 SPoE devices address the difficulties of providing power and data to devices, even in remote, difficult to access endpoint locations. The products aim to help new families of endpoint applications be seamlessly powered and accessed across the network and used to assess local factors such as asset health, environmental conditions and security metrics.

They reduce reliance on localised power and batteries by using a single twisted pair of Ethernet cables to provide efficient, reliable, easily installed power at reduced size and weight. Combined with the firm’s Chronous ADIN1100 and ADIN1110 10baseT1L industrial Ethernet offerings, users can transfer both power and data over one kilometre – a significant increase from previous Ethernet standards.

The LTC4296-1 five-port SPoE PSE with classification and LTC9111 SPoE PD with polarity correction support both SPoE and power over data line (PoDL) variants of single-pair powering. SPoE augments single pair Ethernet (SPE) to provide more reliable, fault-tolerant and interoperable point-to-point power, delivering up to 52W. Both products are 802.3cg compliant and support the Serial Communication Classification Protocol (SCCP).

Analog Devices serves 125,000 customers worldwide with more than 75,000 products in the industrial, communications, automotive and consumer markets. It is headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts.