Infrared Thermography for Power over Ethernet (PoE) Reference Measurements

摘要

The use of data infrastructure, particularly Ethernet, to provide power as well as communications is growing and new applications are being developed. A constant in this is the pressure to increase the power capable of being delivered to a load. The consequence of this is the heating potential due to the DC power supply. A well designed system requires knowledge of the heating effects of this power. Thermocouple measurements and resistivity changes in the cable can be used to determine temperature changes. Additionally, thermal simulations, such as finite element modeling, can be used to predict temperature changes. These are all well documented approaches to providing the designers with this knowledge. In this paper, the application of infrared (IR) thermography to make surface temperature measurements on copper data cabling is described. The motivation for this work is to provide an absolute reference for other studies on heating in Power over Ethernet (PoE) environments. The possible application of infrared thermography will be discussed as a possible method for hotspot identification. The potential for this technique to provide a reference temperature measurement is also discussed, as are the difficulties in taking precise measurements and the challenges to be overcome in the development of this technique.