Fibre-optic extenders push USB out to 500m

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Dec 2, 2004

A new range of USB 1.1 extenders enable peripherals and control interfaces to be located up to 500m away from their host PC.

Scene Double has launched a range of USB 1.1 extenders that enable peripherals and control interfaces to be located up to 500m away from their host PC.

Manufactured by Icron Technologies Corporation, the USB Ranger 422i series fibre-optic extenders are especially useful for industrial process control systems in electrically noisy environments, high-security applications such as access control, medical systems requiring electrical isolation, and observation networks based on USB digital cameras.

The 422i series consists of two separate units - the local extender (LEX) and the remote extender (REX) four-port hub - which are connected to the computer and the remote devices using conventional USB cables.

The LEX and REX units themselves are then linked together using a pair of multimode fibre-optic cables.

Icron's patented ExtremeUSB technology allows the peripheral devices to communicate with the computer as if they are within the USB protocol distance limitation of 5m, even though they may actually be located up to 500m away.

The extenders require no additional software and are operating-system independent.

Also available is a lower-cost version that uses Cat5 cable instead of fibre-optic, providing USB extension for distances up to 100m.