Knowledge Center

Quick Access Documents

Datasheets, Manuals, and Release Notes as PDFs

Datasheets

Manuals

*note that for Windows installations, manuals can also be found in the installation directory under Documentation. Contact support if you need a lower resolution version of a Reference Manual.

PSA/PSL/PVA-3000 Release Notes

Application Notes

Video Demonstrations & Presentations

Video Ad: PSL-3424 Programmable Load

Enhancing PoE Experience
A webinar sponsored by Ethernet Alliance including a presentation by Peter Johnson of Sifos Technologies discussing prevalent issues with PSE’s and PD’s in the market.  Register with EA (it’s free!) to watch.

New! Video Ad for PSL-3424
Check out the new video ad for the PSL-3424 Programmable Load.   The ad highlights features that differentiate the PSL-3424 from POE5.

*YouKu and bilibili links are provided for those who cannot access YouTube (Google).

Technology Overviews (PoE, 10/100/1000Base-T)

Comprehensive Overviews of the Technologies that Sifos Products Test - Extracted from PSA and PVA Reference Manuals

Frequently Asked Questions

Sales and Support

Yes! We distribute globally. See our contact page for a view of all sales partner locations. 

Sifos test instruments are commonly used in PSE and PD compliance test setups.  While  Sifos products are certified to meet CE mark, FCC ratings, and CSA safety compliance standards, they are not specifically designed to provide this type of testing capability when connected to PSE’s or PD’s as part of a compliance test setup.

Yes.  PSA/PSL, PDA, and PVA products are test instruments  that are calibrated to traceable standards when manufactured.  Depending upon usage, operating environment, and user requirements, instruments may be returned to Sifos for factory calibration.

There is no simple answer to how often should instruments be calibrated.  However, when calibration is performed, end users gain confidence that their product will perform comparably to a newly built instrument with current version firmware and current factory calibrations.

Product Configurations

Yes, you can mix PSA/PVA instruments in a single chassis and can benefit from testing PSE interfaces for both PoE and LAN PHY performance.

Menus that are aligned to feature options that require instrument licenses may be partially for fully disabled when the presently connected test instrument does not include the required feature license for that menu.

Getting Started

We recommend you review the PSA Installation Guide and/or the PSA-3000 Setup Chart for guidance on setting up PSA software and connecting to your instrument.

If you experience problems connecting to your instrument across the network, see troubleshooting network issues.  If you still have issues, contact Sifos for support.

The Product Keys for PSE Conformance Test Suites are found in Product Keys under Product Downloads.  You will not need these if you are installing software for a PSL-3000 or PVA-3000 instrument, or if your PSA-3000 instrument is not licensed for a PSE Conformance Test Suite. 

Your account will have access to one (2-Pair or 4-Pair) or both (2-Pair and 4-Pair) test suite Product Keys if your PSA-3000 instrument has active Tracking Service.  If your Tracking Service contract expires, you will  not be able to install future software updates and also maintain access to the applicable PSE Conformance Test Suites.   If you log in and are unable to access the Product Key page, contact Sifos support.

Interaction With Other Applications

When PowerSync Analyzer or Powered Device Analyzer software is used on a newer PC that is equipped with a graphics co-processor, and that PC is running Microsoft Excel 2016 or later, you may encounter ridiculously slow response from Excel when a report is generated.

The root cause of this behavior has been determined to be a hardware acceleration offload that Excel (by default) is configured to use, and occurs when Excel is started by another program. (the behavior does not occur if Excel is run directly)

To disable the hardware acceleration offload, open Excel, use the menu selection:

File -> Options -> Advanced

then scroll down to the Display section.

Check the box labelled ‘Disable hardware graphics accelerator’.

This change will allow Excel to be used to produce reports, without causing the slow response behavior.

Automated Test Suites

PoE (silicon) controllers and hardware reference designs by themselves do not assure finished product conformance to 802.3 standards.  Current generation PSE controllers are highly configurable such that end product specification conformance depends on system management of those devices.  PD controllers have no impact on critical PD conformance behaviors including average and peak power draw and PD classification integrity.

The standard Microsoft Excel test reports associated with Sifos automated test suites require that reports automatically run Excel macros when they pop up.

By default, Microsoft Excel will inhibit .xlsm workbooks from running macros.  This default setting must be modified using the Trust Center where macro security can be set to minimum or  ‘Trusted Locations’ can be specified to allow Sifos reports to open properly.

Most test parameters are subjected to fixed PASS/FAIL criteria that come from 802.3 standards. 

In certain instances, a specific measurement or test result does not provide enough information to render the PASS/FAIL decision.  In these cases, the Info serves as a warning of a possible issue.

In other instances, the 802.3 standard may allow but recommend against a specific behavior.  This too may result in an Info mark in the test report.

In general, a test report that has no FAIL markings may be deemed to represent conformance to the applicable standard.

Generally no.  The 802.3 specifications are written to apply to a single-port PSE and therefore do not account for system power management behaviors of a multi-port PSE.  So each port should be tested individually with all other ports unpowered.  By default, the PSE Conformance Test sequencer will enforce this.

Using the ‘sequence’ command in PowerShell PSA, there is an override capability to block the sequencer from shutting all PSE ports down.

Tracking Service is a support agreement for the PSE Conformance Test Suites.  As PSE’s become increasingly diverse and take advantage of the many “designer freedoms” permitted by 802.3 standards, PSE Conformance Test Suites must continuously evolve and adapt to properly address each PSE implementation in the market.   Also, with the large number of test parameters captured during PSE testing, there is always the ongoing opportunity to improve and refine the measurement and analysis methods deployed in these suites.

Tracking service enables end customers to stay fully up to date with new PSA software releases that include numerous improvements to PSE Conformance Test Suites in each release.

Ethernet Alliance

TBD

Contact Sifos or your local sales partner with any additional questions.

Obsolete Product Literature

PDA-600 Application Notes