The Cisco® Catalyst® 4500E Series platform offers a variety of choices in power supplies to enable the desired Power over Ethernet (PoE) scale and chassis configuration. Note that the terms “Power over Ethernet” and “inline power” are synonymous and can be used interchangeably. PoE has four versions: Cisco Catalyst 4500 Prestandard PoE (Prestandard PoE), 802.3af-compliant PoE (15W), 802.3atcompliant PoE Plus (PoE+) (30W), and Universal PoE (UPOE) (60W). Every Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series chassis and PoE power supply supports the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Prestandard PoE, the IEEE 802.3af standard PoE, and IEEE 802.3at-compliant PoEP power implementation, helping ensure backward compatibility with existing Cisco powered devices.

All Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series PoE Line Cards can distinguish an IEEE or Cisco Catalyst 4500 Prestandard powered device from an unpowered network interface card (NIC) to help ensure that power is applied only when an appropriate device is connected. Cisco Catalyst 4500 Prestandard PoE Cisco Catalyst 4500 Power Supplies have complete support for the Prestandard PoE. The first generation of Cisco Catalyst 4500 Prestandard PoE was designed to power devices such as Cisco IP phones and access points. This prestandard solution had relatively low power requirements (approximately 6 to 7 watts).

IEEE Standard PoE(P) PoE is the capability to provide up to 15.4W of power over 100m of standard Category 3 (or better) unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cables when an IEEE 802.3 af-compliant device is attached to the PoE line-card port. IEEE 802.3at-compliant PoE+ extends the Power over Ethernet capability to up to 30W over 100m of Category 5e (or better) UTP cables.
UPOE Universal Power Over Ethernet (UPOE) is an enhancement to the PoEP (802.3at) standard to allow powered devices up to 60W to connect over a single Category 5e cable. Standard PoEP uses only 2 twisted pairs (out of 4) in the Ethernet cable. UPOE uses all 4 twisted pairs to deliver 60W to the port. The additional power that UPOE offers over standard PoE extends the advantages of PoE to next-generation powered workspace devices such as virtual desktop displays, workgroup switches, and physical access controllers. All Cisco Catalyst 4500E Series
UPOE Line Cards support standard PoE as well as Cisco Prestandard PoE. When deploying UPOE devices, Category 5e (or better) UTP cable is recommended.