Patent ID: 7299368

Claim:
A local area network adapted to supply power over a plurality of communication cabling paths, the local area network comprising: a powered device; a power sourcing equipment; and a communication cabling comprising a plurality of twisted wire pairs connecting said power sourcing equipment to said powered device, said communication cabling providing a first power path comprising a first set of twisted wire pairs of said communication cabling and a second power path comprising a second set of twisted wire pairs of said communication cabling, said first set being different from said second set; said power sourcing equipment comprising: a control circuit; a first power source responsive to said control circuit adapted to supply a first power to said powered device via said first power path; and a second power source responsive to said control circuit adapted to supply a second power to said powered device via said second power path, said control circuit being operative to: supply said first power to said powered device from said first power source via said first power path; contemporaneously with said supplied power from said first power source, supply said second power to said powered device from said second power source via said second power path; and control said first power source such that a current component of said first power is maintained within a pre-determined range.