PoE powered device with link layer startup processor

1. A Power over Ethernet (PoE) system comprising:

(a) a PoE power sourcing equipment (PSE) ( 10 ), including a PSE controller ( 11 ), connected to a first end of an Ethernet cable ( 5 );

(b) a PoE powered device (PD) ( 20 ) connected to a second end of the Ethernet cable, wherein said PoE PD further comprises:

(i) a PD controller ( 21 ),

(ii) a physical link layer (PHY) ( 30 ),

(iii) an auxiliary processor ( 62 ) configured for negotiating a power level with the PoE PSE using a first data link layer ( 650 ) that is connected to the PHY via a media independent interface (MII) ( 40 ),

(iv) a second data link layer ( 50 ) that is connected to the physical link layer (PHY) via said media independent interface (MII),

(v) a main processor ( 2 ) configured for communicating over the Ethernet cable using the second data link layer; and

(vi) a power relay configured for transferring power from the auxiliary processor to the main processor after said power level negotiation; and

(c) an inter-processor communication bus connected between the auxiliary processor and the main processor, and wherein

the inter-processor communication bus is configured to transfer status information from the auxiliary processor to the main processor prior to transferring power.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein

said power relay is a power transfer relay adapted to direct electrical power supplied by a DC-DC converter to either the main processor or the auxiliary processor.

3. A power-over-Ethernet (PoE) Powered Device (PD) comprising:

(a) a PD controller;

(b) a physical link layer (PHY);

(c) an auxiliary processor configured for negotiating a power level with a PoE power sourcing equipment (PSE) using a first data link layer that is connected to the PHY via a media independent interface (MII);

(d) a second data link layer that is connected to the PHY via the MII;

(e) a main processor configured for network communication using the second data link layer;

(f) a power transfer relay configured for transferring power from the auxiliary processor to the main processor after said power level negotiation; and

(g) an inter-processor communication bus connected between the auxiliary processor and the main processor, and wherein

the inter-processor communication bus is configured to transfer status information from the auxiliary processor to the main processor prior to transferring power.

4. The device of claim 3 further comprising:

a non-volatile memory associated with the auxiliary processor and configured to store:

(a) a media access control (MAC) address associated with the main processor; and

(b) a required PoE power level.

5. The device of claim 3 wherein

said auxiliary processor is selected from the group consisting of: a central processing unit integrated circuit, and a state machine implemented on a field programmable gate array.

6. A method for initializing a Power over Ethernet (PoE) connection, said method comprising:

(a) connecting a PoE Power Sourcing Equipment to a PoE Powered Device (PD),

(i) said PoE Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE) further comprising a PSE Controller, and

(ii) said PoE powered device (PD) further comprising a PD controller;

(b) performing, at the PSE Controller, a first classification in accordance with IEEE 802.3af;

(c) booting up an auxiliary processor, wherein said auxiliary processor is connected to a data transfer switch via a first data link layer, and where the first data link layer is selectively connected to a physical medium dependent (PMD) sublayer by said data transfer switch;

(d) determining whether a second classification, in accordance with IEEE 802.3at, has been performed;

(e) when said second classification has not been performed, negotiating, by the auxiliary processor, a power level using link layer discovery protocol (LLDP);

(f) booting up a main processor, wherein said main processor is connected to the data transfer switch via a second data link layer, and wherein the main processor is connected to the auxiliary processor via an inter-processor communication bus; and

(g) enabling the data transfer switch to selectively connect the second data link layer to the physical medium dependent (PMD) sublayer; and

(h) transferring status information from the auxiliary processor to the main processor prior to transferring power from the auxiliary processor to the main processor.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising: enabling by the auxiliary processor a power relay to provide operational power to the main processor from the PD controller prior to booting up the main processor.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein said data transfer switch is collocated, on an integrated circuit chip, with the physical medium dependent sublayer and the PoE PD controller circuit.

9. A Power over Ethernet (PoE) Powered Device (PD) comprising:

(a) a physical link layer (PHY) further comprising a physical coding sublayer (PCS);

(b) a data switch;

(c) a media independent interface (MII) connected between said physical coding sublayer and the data switch;

(d) a first data link layer further comprising a first media access control (MAC) sublayer;

(e) an auxiliary processor being connected to the data switch via said first media access control sublayer;

(f) a second data link layer further comprising a second media access control sublayer;

(g) a main processor being connected to the data switch via said second media access control sublayer, wherein

the data switch is configured to selectively connect one of said first and second media access control sublayers to said media independent interface; and

(h) an inter-processor communication bus connected between the auxiliary processor and the main processor, and wherein

the inter-processor communication bus is configured to transfer status information from the auxiliary processor to the main processor prior to transferring power from the auxiliary processor to the main processor.

10. A Power over Ethernet (PoE) Powered Device (PD) comprising:

(a) a physical medium dependent (PMD) sublayer;

(b) a data switch connected to the PMD sublayer;

(c) a first physical coding sublayer (PCS) and physical medium attachment (PMA) sublayer;

(d) a first media independent interface (MII) connected between a first media access control (MAC) sublayer and said first physical coding sublayer and physical medium attachment sublayer;

(e) an auxiliary processor being connected to the first media independent interface via said first media access control sublayer,

(f) a second physical coding sublayer and physical medium attachment sublayer;

(g) a second media independent interface connected between a second media access control sublayer and said second physical coding sublayer and physical medium attachment sublayer;

(h) a main processor being connected to the data switch via said second media access control sublayer, wherein

the data switch is configured to selectively connect one of said first physical coding sublayer and physical medium attachment sublayer and second physical coding sublayer and physical medium attachment sublayer to said physical medium dependent sublayer; and

(i) an inter-processor communication bus connected between the auxiliary processor and the main processor, and wherein

the inter-processor communication bus is configured to transfer status information from the auxiliary processor to the main processor prior to transferring power from the auxiliary processor to the main processor.