Abstract:
A method and apparatus provide an IP telephone or similar device with a mechanism to receive and at least briefly loop back discovery signals received from a telecommunications device such as an Ethernet switch while not permitting the loop back of data packet signals. No mechanical relays are required and the circuitry can be fully integrated on an integrated circuit using commonly available techniques, if desired.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for detecting the presence of a connected device of a particular class, such as a telephone, that may require phantom power to be supplied over twisted pair wiring. Discovery signals transmitted on ports of a telecommunications device, such as a switch, need to be looped back to the telecommunications device to indicate the presence of the particular connected device (the absence of the particular device being inferred by the absence of the loop back signal). Accordingly, the discovery signal should not be looped back if the device is absent or if a connected device is not of the particular type.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Telephones and other types of data terminal equipment (DTE) are routinely used for voice, data traffic and other forms of telecommunication. Such DTE equipment typically is wired with twisted pair wire to a switch or similar telecommunications device. For example, some communications systems utilize an Ethernet switch in communication with Internet Protocol (IP) or voice over IP (VoIP) telephones. Where the IP telephones are compatible and thus adapted to receive phantom power over the twisted pair connection to the switch, it is desirable for the switch to verify the compatibility before applying the phantom power because it is conceivable that the phantom power could damage or operate improperly with certain non-compatible DTE equipment (“legacy equipment”) which might also be connected to the switch. In accordance with the invention disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/710,388 filed Nov. 9, 2000 in the name of inventor Roger Karam and entitled “Method and Apparatus for Detecting a Compatible Phantom Powered Device Using Common Mode Signaling” (CISCO-3052), commonly owned herewith, a method and apparatus which enable discovery of such compatible telephones by a switch or similar device is taught. In a nutshell, the approach used is to generate a differential mode signal, apply it to center-taps of transformers coupling the switch to the twisted pair wires, apply the differential mode signal received at center-taps of corresponding transformers at the IP telephone to an identity network, loop the signal (possibly modified by the identity network) back to the switch, and, based on the returned signal (and possibly other considerations), apply or not apply phantom power between the center-taps of the switch-side transformers to power the IP telephone. This approach requires that the IP telephone be configured to “loop back” signals received by it to the switch. This is undesirable for data signals under certain circumstances as it can lead to certain kinds of potential computer network problems. Accordingly, it is desirable in such circumstances to permit loop back of discovery signals only and not data signals. In the past, normally closed mechanical relays at the IP telephone coupled with a low pass filter (LPF) to pass only the discovery signals and not the data signals have been used. Such mechanical relays are relatively expensive and can become unreliable. Low pass filters composed of inductors and capacitors also consume volume in the DTE equipment and can be relatively expensive to deploy.  
           [0003]    [0003]FIG. 1 is an electrical schematic diagram of a telecommunications system in accordance with a prior design. A telecommunications device  10  such as an Ethernet switch includes a port  12  which includes a transmitter  14  and a receiver  16 . Transmitter  14  includes a center-tapped transformer winding  18  with differential output on nodes  20 ,  22  and a center-tap  24 . Receiver  16  includes a center-tapped transformer winding  26  with differential input on nodes  28 ,  30  and a center-tap  32 . A phantom power supply  34  provides direct current (DC) phantom power (preferably=+48 volts or less) to center taps  24 ,  32 . A four (or more) wire cable  36  connects telecommunications device  10  to, for example, an IP telephone  38 . IP telephone  38  receives a differential signal at nodes  40 ,  42  of receive transformer  44  which includes center-tapped winding  46 . IP telephone  38  transmits a differential signal at nodes  48 ,  50  of transmit transformer  52  which includes center-tapped winding  54 . Center-tap node  56  is the center-tap of winding  46  and center-tap node  58  is the center-tap of winding  54 . Phantom power is extracted at nodes  56 ,  58  and is applied to a power processor  60  at the IP telephone in known ways, such as is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,468 filed Mar. 26, 1998 entitled “Power Feed For Ethernet Telephones Via Ethernet Link” and commonly owned herewith. A first relay  62  couples differential output lines  64 ,  66  when unenergized to low pass filter network  68 . A second relay  70  couples the differential outputs  72 ,  74  of LPF  68  to differential input lines  76 ,  78  of winding  80  of transformer  52 . In this way, while relays  62 ,  70  are not energized (as is the case when phantom power is not applied), signals loop through IP telephone  38  but they are subjected to LPF  68  which filters out the higher frequency data signals while allowing the lower frequency discovery signals to pass.  
           [0004]    When relays  62 ,  70  are energized (e.g., when phantom power supply  34  for port  12  is turned on or another condition controlling relays  62 ,  70  is met) then the receive signals from differential output lines  64 ,  66  of winding  82  of transformer  44  are directly applied to the physical layer device (PHY)  84  of IP telephone  38 . Similarly this condition causes transmit signals from PHY  84  to be coupled to output winding  80  of transformer  52 .  
           [0005]    The details of a common low pass filter  68  are shown by way of example in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a typical LPF circuit including three capacitors C 1 , C 2 , C 3 , and four inductors L 1 , L 2 , L 3 , L 4 . The input signal is differential and is applied at modes IN+, IN− and the output signal is differential and is obtained at modes OUT+, OUT−. Such devices are difficult to integrate onto an integrated circuit with current technology and thus must actually be fabricated with discreet components or is known to those of ordinary skill in the art.  
           [0006]    Relays  62  and  70  and LPF  68  are physically relatively large and tend to be relatively expensive parts. Furthermore, relays can wear out and/or suffer from intermittent failures and are thus not considered to be the most reliable of electronic devices. Accordingly, it is desirable to replace the need for relays and discreet filter components in circuits of this type and to further miniaturize the loop back control circuit.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    A method and apparatus provide an IP telephone or similar device with a mechanism to receive and at least briefly loop back discovery signals received from a telecommunications device such as an Ethernet switch while not permitting the loop back of data packet signals. No mechanical relays are required and the circuitry can be fully integrated on an integrated circuit using commonly available techniques, if desired.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       [0008]    The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification illustrate one or more embodiments of the invention and, together with the present description, serve to explain the principles and implementations of the invention.  
         [0009]    In the drawings:  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 is an electrical schematic diagram of a telecommunications system in accordance with the prior art.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 is an electrical schematic diagram illustrating a low pass filter in accordance with the prior art.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 is an electrical schematic diagram illustrating a switching circuit in accordance with a specific embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 is an electrical schematic diagram illustrating a power processor circuit in accordance with the prior art.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 5 is a plot of differential output signals of the circuit of FIG. 3 and the PWRUP signal as it rises in accordance with a specific embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 6 is a plot of the loop back discovery signal in accordance with a specific embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 7 is a plot of the loop back discovery signal through the circuit of FIG. 3 during the rise of the PWRUP signal in accordance with a specific embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 8 is an electrical schematic diagram of a conventional ESD protection circuit for a conventional physical layer device.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 9 is plot of the loop back discovery signal through the circuit of FIG. 3 as modified by FIG. 8 during the rise of the PWRUP signal in accordance with a specific embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0019]    FIGS.  10 A- 10 B are an electrical schematic diagram of an alternative specific embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 11A is a plot of V(TX+) and V(TX−) versus time in accordance with the specific embodiment of FIGS.  10 A- 10 B.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 11B is a plot of V(RX+) and V(RX−) with a constant offset voltage in accordance with the specific embodiment of FIGS.  10 A- 10 B.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIGS. 12A and 12B are an electrical schematic diagram of an alternative specific embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 13 is a plot of V(TX+), V(TX−) and V(A) versus time in accordance with the specific embodiment of FIGS.  12 A- 12 B.  
         [0024]    FIGS.  14 A- 14 B are an electrical schematic diagram of an alternative specific embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0025]    FIGS.  15  is a plot of V(TX+), V(TX−), V(OFFB), V(NOFFB), V(OFFA) and V(NOFFA) versus time in accordance with the specific embodiment of FIGS.  14 A- 14 B.  
         [0026]    FIGS.  16  is an electrical schematic diagram of an alternative specific embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 17 is a plot of differential voltage and loop back currents in accordance with the specific embodiment of FIG. 16.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 18 is a plot of drain current through various transistors for the circuit of FIG. 16 in accordance with a specific embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0029]    FIGS.  19 A- 19 B are an electrical schematic diagram of an alternative specific embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 20 is a plot of differential currents through portions of the circuit if FIGS.  19 A- 19 B in accordance with a specific embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 21 is a plot of loop back voltage and current in accordance with the circuit of FIGS.  19 A- 19 B.  
         [0032]    FIGS.  22 A- 22 B are an electrical schematic diagram of an alternative specific embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 23 is a plot of the voltage response of various portions of the circuit of FIGS.  22 A- 22 B.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 24 is a plot of capacitor voltage versus time for the circuit of FIGS.  22 A- 22 B.  
         [0035]    FIGS.  25 - 26  are flow diagrams for processes in accordance with specific embodiments of the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0036]    Embodiments of the present invention are described herein in the context of a method and apparatus for controlling loop back of a differential mode signal through a remote device without the use of a powered circuit or a relay at the remote device. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following description of the present invention is illustrative only and not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments of the invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure. Reference will now be made in detail to a number of implementations of the present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or like parts.  
         [0037]    In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are described. It will of course be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developer&#39;s specific goals, such as compliance with system-and business-related goals and that these goals will vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would never the less be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.  
         [0038]    The present invention is directed to replacing the prior art circuitry relay and LPF components of the data packet loop back prevention circuit to make a more compact, inexpensive and reliable IP telephone (or similar network device). A primary difficulty which must be overcome is the fact that the IP telephone is likely entirely unpowered during the discovery phase since phantom power will not generally be provided until after the discovery phase is complete. Thus, powered active circuitry cannot normally be used to detect and respond to the discovery signal.  
         [0039]    Circuit  84 , as shown schematically in FIG. 3, illustrates a specific embodiment of the present invention. Receive transformer  44  receives a differential AC signal over, for example, a twisted pair line coupled to a first transformer winding disposed between pins  3  and  5  of receive transformer  44 . A center-tap is provided between pins  3  and  5  in order to extract phantom power at pin  4  (mode  56 ). The first transformer winding is magnetically coupled to a second transformer winding disposed between pins  1  and  2  of receive transformer  44 . The second transformer winding is coupled to lines RX+ ( 64 ) and RX− ( 66 ), respectively. A first steering circuit is formed of NPN bipolar transistor Q 1  and PNP bipolar transistor Q 6 . Under normal conditions (i.e., no phantom power applied) first steering circuit simply drives transmit transformer  52  TX+ line  76  in substantially the same phase as the signal received on line RX+. Similarly and simultaneously, a second steering circuit formed of NPN bipolar transistor Q 12  and PNP bipolar transistor Q 5  drives transmit transformer  52  TX− line  78  in substantially the same phase as the signal received on line RX−.  
         [0040]    When phantom power is applied to nodes  56  and  58 , power processor  86  becomes energized and provides a “PWRUP” signal on line  88 . The PWRUP signal on line  88  turns on NPN bipolar transistors Q 3  and Q 4  by applying a positive voltage to node  88  of voltage divider  90  thus connecting the bases of Q 1  and Q 12  to ground.  
         [0041]    The power processor  86 , shown in more detail in FIG. 4, receives power on lines  56  and  58  and conventionally includes a filter  114 , a rectifier  116 , a filter capacitor  118  and a DC-DC converter  120 . Other similar arrangements are also well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. The power processor  86  may perform DC-DC power conversion and filtering as required, as well as providing power to nodes  88  (PWRUP) and  122  (ground).  
         [0042]    At the same time as PWRUP goes high, because the bases of PNP bipolar transistors Q 7  and Q 8  are at ground potential through pull down resistor R 20  and the emitters of Q 7  and Q 8  are at PWRUP (node  88 ) Q 7  and Q 8  are turned on and hence Q 5 , the base of which is connected through PNP bipolar transistor Q 7  to PWRUP and Q 6 , the base of which is connected through PNP bipolar transistor Q 8  to PWRUP, are both forced off by the application of a relatively high voltage to their respective bases. As a result, when PWRUP appears, the loop back feature promptly turns off. Notably, no local power supply is required to enable this feature and it is powered entirely by signal level power on RX+, RX− with the appearance of phantom power at the network device turning it off.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 5 is a plot  92  of the loop back signal voltage of the circuit of FIG. 3 versus time and a plot  94  of the PWRUP signal voltage in the circuit of FIG. 3 versus time. As can be seen, with a sinusoidal discovery tone of 1 cycle per 2 microseconds (500 KHz) from PWRUP, the loop back signal turns off in less than 1 microsecond after PWRUP goes high.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 6 is a plot  96  of the loop back discovery tone. The discovery tone may preferably be a sinusoidal signal of less than a few megahertz in frequency. A sinusoidal signal is not absolutely required, but is preferred because it is less likely to cause spurious emissions. A signal of less than a few megahertz in frequency will easily propagate with insignificant voltage loss on twisted pair wire to the well-known Ethernet point to point maximum connection requirement of 140 meters.  
         [0045]    [0045]FIG. 7 is a plot of the differential loop back discovery tone. Plot  98  corresponds to the voltage at node  100  and plot  102  corresponds to the voltage at node  104 . FIG. 7 illustrates the voltage at node  100  and  104  where no Electros static Discharge (ESD) diodes are present in PHY  106 .  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 8 is an electrical schematic diagram of a conventional ESD protection circuit  108  for a conventional PHY  106 . ESD diodes D 1 , D 2 , D 3 , and D 4  clip voltage on lines RX− and RX+ to avoid damage to sensitive electronic circuits inside PHY  106 . The result is typically that instead of the 2.5 volt peak to peak swings of FIG. 7, the measured voltage at node  100  corresponds to plot  110  of FIG. 9 and the measured voltage at node  104  corresponds to plot  112  of FIG. 9 which show peak to peak voltage swings of only about 1.4 volts.  
         [0047]    An alternative specific embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B which are in the form of an electrical schematic diagram. In the embodiment of FIGS. 10A and 10B, a filtering function is added to the basic circuit of FIG. 3. The new circuit now operates by adding PNP bipolar transistors Q 19  and Q 14 . Q 19  has its base and emitter connected in parallel with Q 6  of the first steering circuit and Q 14  has its base and emitter connected in parallel with Q 5  of the second steering circuit. The collector of Q 19  is coupled to node “A” and the collector of Q 14  is coupled to node “B”, both illustrated in FIG. 10B. Mode “NA” is the collector of Q 4  and node “NB” is the collector of Q 3 . As can be seen in FIG. 10B, circuit elements  124  and  126  are RC timing circuits which include, respectively, R 23  and C 8  and R 24  and C 9 . C 8  and C 9  are charged by the normal loop back operation of circuit  84  passing the discovery signal. R 23  and R 24  serve to discharge C 8  and C 9 , respectively, so that C 8  and C 9  will be discharged when the network device is disconnected or the switch is powered off.  
         [0048]    The goal in this version of the circuit is to permit brief loop back for detection purposes and then to shut off the loop back capability after having given the switch sufficient time to accomplish the discovery function. By shutting off the loop back feature promptly, undersirable loop back of data packets is avoided without the use of an LPF.  
         [0049]    Turning to FIG. 10B, a portion of the positive current from Q 5  is mirrored into Q 14  and passed to node B. Similarly, a portion of the positive current from Q 6  is mirrored into Q 19  and passed to node A. C 8  and C 9  became charged which drives node VTON high turning on N-channel FETs M 16  and M 19  (sometimes referred to herein as switches) since VTON is coupled to the gates of FETs M 16  and M 19 . This forces nodes NA and NB high because node A is held high by C 8  and this then forces Q 1  and Q 12  to turn on thus distorting the differential signal on TX+, TX− to the point that it cannot be transmitted through transformer  52 .  
         [0050]    [0050]FIG. 11A illustrates the plot of the voltage of TX+ and TX− over time as the circuit of FIG. 10B turns on. As can be seen, the first few loop back pulses are intact, then they become increasingly attenuated with the TX+, TX− signal losing its differential node characteristics and thus becoming unpropagatable through a transformer or over a twisted pair cable. FIG. 11B illustrates the RX+, RX− signal (with an offset) corresponding to the TX+, TX− signal of FIG. 11A in time.  
         [0051]    Another specific embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the electrical schematic diagram of FIGS. 12A and 12B and its operation is modeled in the plots of FIG. 13. In this embodiment, the loop back of the discovery signal is briefly permitted. Once loop back commences, current is passed to node A through the Q 6 -Q 19  current mirror. Once node A becomes active, C 8  begins to charge taking node A and the gates of N-channel FETs M 16  and M 19  high. This takes nodes PB and PA low turning on Q 14 , Q 5 , Q 19  and Q 6  thus disrupting the pass through of differential signals on RX+, RX− to TX+, TX−. FIG. 13 shows the voltages of TX−, TX+ and node A over time in accordance with the operation of the circuit of FIGS. 12A and 12B.  
         [0052]    Another specific embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the electrical schematic diagram of FIGS. 14A and 14B and its operation is modeled in the plots of FIG. 15. In this embodiment, the loop back of the discovery signal is only briefly permitted. Once loop back commences rectified current is passed to modes NOFFB and OFFB, through the current mirror/diode action of Q 1 -Q 14  and Q 6 -Q 18 , respectively. With OFFB high, C 8  charges up and holds the gates of N-channel FETS M 19 , M 16 , M 18 , and M 13  high which, in turn, takes nodes NA and NB low. The idea here it to balance the impact by (1) removing the same amount of current from both sides; (2) making the loads the same on the mirrored NMOS and PMOS devices; and (3) presenting nodes OFFA and NOFFA with opposite polarities, one being at +0.7VDC while the other is at −0.7 VDC.  
         [0053]    Note that in this circuit loopback operation can be prevented in any of at least three ways: (1) disable only the gate of the NMOS devices in the loopback circuit in both switches (2) disable only the gate of the PMOS devices in the loopback circuit in both switches; (3) disable all gates of the NMOS and PMOS devices in the loopback circuits of both switches.  
         [0054]    Accordingly, the circuitry driving TX+ and TX− is disrupted as shown in FIG. 15 so that one or a few discovery cycles are looped back over TX+, TX− followed quickly by the secession of the loop back function.  
         [0055]    Finally, is should be noted that while a number of circuits using bipolar transistor technology have been shown, the concepts of this invention are equally applicable to FET-type transistors as long as they are constructed with thresholds appropriate to the expected signal levels as is well known to these of ordinary skill in the art. Turning now to FIG. 16, an electrical schematic diagram of a FET-type circuit corresponding to the bipolar design of FIG. 3 is shown. P-channel MOSFET M 3  and N-Channel MOSFET M 7  together form a first steering circuit driven by RX+, RX− and driving TX+. P-channel MOSFET M 9  and N-channel MOSFET M 10  together from a second steering circuit driven by RX+, RX− and driving TX−. FIG. 17 illustrates the operation of this circuit. The curve denoted V (RX−)−V (RX+) plots the difference in the voltage level of RX− and RX+ over time. FIG. 18 illustrates the current through the drains of devices M 3 , M 7 , M 9  and M 10  over time as shown.  
         [0056]    Turning now to FIGS.  19 A- 19 B, an electrical schematic diagram of an alternative specific embodiment of the present invention illustrates the FET homologue of the bipolar circuit of FIGS.  10 A- 10 B. In this circuit M 11  mirrors some of the current in M 10  driving node VOFF through diode D 1  and M 12  mirrors some of the current in M 9  driving node VOFFN through diode D 2 . After a short time of operation VOFF is pulled low and held by capacitor C 5  while VOFFN is pulled low and held by capacitor C 4 . Resistors R 9  and R 10  serve to discharge capacitors C 5  and C 4 , respectively, after disconnection of RX+, RX−. Since VOFF is pulled high, as shown in FIG. 19B, it controls the gates of N-channel MOSFETS M 16  and M 17  tying nodes NA and NB to ground and thereby shutting off devices M 7  and M 10  which turns off the first and second steering circuits and stops the loop back function.  
         [0057]    [0057]FIG. 20 shows the plot of the differential TX current (I(TX+)−I(TX−)) at the top and the plot of the differential RX current (I(RX+)−I(RX−)) at the bottom during normal operation of the circuit of FIGS.  19 A- 19 B (PWRUP not applied).  
         [0058]    [0058]FIG. 21 shows the plot of the voltage at modes VS 1  and VG 1  at the top and the plots of RX and TX current (I(RX+) and I(TX−)) at the bottom during normal operation of the circuit of FIGS.  19 A- 19 B (PWRUP not applied)  
         [0059]    Turning now to FIGS. 22A and 22B a modification of the circuit of FIGS.  19 A- 19 B is shown. In this version a clean voltage source Vs is used to set the gates of M 16  and M 17  of FIG. 22B high. This results in the plot shown in FIG. 23. The designation “VOLOFF” indicates the gate voltage for M 16  and M 17 . Note also that node VOFFN, generated off of an NMOS device, is negative relative to ground while node VOFF, generated off of a PMOS device, is positive relative to ground. Diodes D 1  and D 2  are present to prevent the capacitors C 5  and C 4 , respectively, from loosing charge on the snapback of the switches as they turn off.  
         [0060]    [0060]FIG. 24 is a Voltage vs. Time plot generated by driving the circuit of FIGS. 22A and 22B to demonstrate the polarity of the voltages generated from the PMOS and NMOS current sources into capacitors C 5  and C 4 , respectively, (which correspond to nodes VOFF and VOFFN, respectively, of FIG. 22A)  
         [0061]    Turning now to FIGS. 25 and 26 flow charts illustrating methods in accordance with specific embodiments of the present invention are shown. The flow chart of FIG. 25 corresponds to the basic circuits of FIG. 3 and FIG. 16. A differential signal (RX+, RX−) is input to the circuit at block  124 . At block  126  it is decided whether steering circuit  1  or steering circuit  2  will handle the signal. Steering circuit  1  (block  128 ) or steering circuit  2  (block  130 ) handles the signal as described above. If DC power is applied (PWRUP) at block  132  then the loop back terminates (block  134 ), otherwise signal processing continues at block  124 . In the version of the flow chart shown in FIG. 26, instead of block  132 , block  136  acts to store power from the input signal by mirroring current into a voltage storage device such as a capacitor which is then used to power switches which force a distortion of the looped back signal (block  138 ) so that it will not propagate through a transformer or on a twisted pair transmission line. The distortions can shift the phase and or voltage centers of the signals so that they are no longer differential node signals.  
         [0062]    Thus, a number of ways have been shown to block undesired loop back of packet traffic. Application of the phantom power signal can be used to disrupt the loop back circuitry stopping the loop back; switches can be turned on by powering their bases/gates by rectified signal current stored in capacitors (resistors to ground provided to discharge the capacitors so that they can reset when a DTE device is disconnected), data can be distorted through voltage and/or phase shifting so that it will not propagate through the transformer or on the twisted pair transmission line. It should also be noted that the transformer winding used to provide RX+, RX− to the PHY need not be the same as that used to drive the circuitry described above so as to avoid affecting the operation of the PHY.  
         [0063]    While embodiments and applications of the invention have been shown and described, it would be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure that many more modifications than mentioned above are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.