Modal Analysis of a Typical Power over Ethernet Configuration

In this work, a transmission-line model of a typical Power over Ethernet configuration, where data and power share the same transmission medium, is investigated by resorting to modal decomposition. It is shown that in the ideal case in which all circuit components behave ideally, data and power propagate through different paths without interference. The obtained modal circuits are then used as starting point to investigate the detrimental effects on signal transmission introduced by possible imbalance (i.e., asymmetry with respect to ground) affecting the involved circuit components.