Patent ID: 8447995

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a network port; power supply circuitry constructed and arranged to provide power to remote devices; power receiving circuitry constructed and arranged to receive power from a remote device; a battery configured to provide power to the power supply circuitry and receive power from the power receiving circuitry; and a controller configured to selectively couple the power supply circuitry and power receiving circuitry to the networking port based on a mode of operation, wherein: in a first mode of operation, the controller is configured to simultaneously couple the power supply circuitry to the network port and decouple the power receiving circuitry from the network port, wherein: coupling the power supply circuitry to the network port includes closing a first electrical switch from an open state between the power supply circuitry and the network port; and decoupling the power receiving circuitry from the network port includes opening a second electrical switch from a closed state between the power receiving circuitry and the network port; in a second mode of operation, the controller is configured to simultaneously couple the power receiving circuitry to the network port and decouple the power supply circuitry from the network port, wherein: coupling the power receiving circuitry to the network port includes closing the second electrical switch from an open state between the power receiving circuitry and the network port; and decoupling the power supply circuitry from the network port includes opening the first electrical switch from a closed state between the power supply circuitry and the network port; and the controller is configured to select between the first mode of operation and the second mode of operation by: selecting the first mode of operation when the network port is connected to a remote network device that requests remote power and the battery is in a charged state; and selecting the second mode of operation when the network port is connected to a remote network device that provides remote power and the battery is in an uncharged state.