Patent ID: 7492059

Claim:
A local area network adapted to supply power to powered devices over a plurality of paths thus supplying high power, the local area network comprising: at least one powered device; a hub adapted for communicating data to and from said at least one powered device; a communication cabling connecting said at least one powered device to said hub, said communication cabling comprising a first set of wire pairs utilized for communicating data between said at least one powered device and said hub and a second set of wire pairs different from said first set of wire pairs; a first direct current power source adapted to supply and return a first direct current power over said first set of wire pairs; a second direct current power source adapted to supply and return a second direct current power over said second set of wire pairs; and a combiner operative to: receive said first power over said at least a portion of said first set of wire pairs; receive said second power over said at least a portion of said second set of wire pairs; combine the current of said received first power and the current of said received second power to a combined high power output; transmit a signal to at least one of said first power source and said second power source, said signal indicating that said combiner is operative to produce said combined high power output; and maintain a near even balance between the current of said received first power and the current of said received second power.