Patent ID: 7580732

Claim:
A system for supplying power in a communication network, comprising: a plurality of network elements in electrical communication with each other; and a plurality of subscriber devices in communication with at least one of the network elements; and wherein each network element is in communication with a respective plurality of subscriber devices, and wherein each of the plurality of subscriber devices is configured to communicate with the plurality of network elements via a respective communication line, wherein each of the plurality of subscriber devices comprises: a power supply for supplying power to the subscriber device, wherein each subscriber device of at least a subset of the plurality of subscriber devices comprises: a power transmission circuit in communication with the respective power supply, wherein the power transmission circuit is configured to transmit a portion of the power supplied by the power supply of the subscriber device to the plurality of network elements via the respective communication line, and wherein the portions of power supplied from the at least subset of the plurality of subscriber devices are aggregated to provide power for the plurality of network elements, and wherein each of the plurality of network elements is configured to directly supply, without using any other element in the communication network, a portion of the aggregated power from respective subsets of the plurality of subscriber devices to at least one other network element to share power among the plurality of network elements.