Technology

USB’s five meter distance limitation may cause installation issues for applications where the host computer needs to be located away from the user (e.g. secured locations to prevent tampering, factory floors where environmental conditions may be unsafe, or conference room applications connecting to remote video and audio devices). To overcome this distance limitation, Icron developed a series of patented technologies called ExtremeUSB®. Available in a variety of form factors to suit your OEM configurations, ExtremeUSB is the most robust and reliable USB extension technology available and is backed by 30 years of development with thousands of test case permutations.

ExtremeUSB extends the range of USB over multiple types of media such as CAT X, fiber, and over a LAN. All Icron products include the ExtremeUSB suite of features: transparent USB extension, true plug and play (no software drivers required) and works with all major operating systems such as Windows®, macOS™ and Linux® and Chrome OS™.

Point-to-Point Connection

A USB extender system is designed to overcome a USB cable distance limitation of five meters, and typically consists of a local extender (LEX) unit connected to a host such as a computer, and a remote extender (REX) unit that connects to a USB peripheral such as a keyboard, mouse, flash drive or camera. These two extender points are joined by transmission link cable such as CAT 5e/6/7 or fiber, to provide a Point-to-Point Connection up to 10 kilometers regardless of operating system and without the need for software drivers.

This baseline extension functionality is enabled through ExtremeUSB technology. For more information on private branding Icron products, contact us.

ExtremeUSB Platform Advanced Features

USB over LAN
Company IT administrators are increasingly looking for USB devices to be managed over a LAN (Local Area Network). USB over LAN provides the same distance extension functionality as the above Point-to-Point Connection configuration, but instead of laying down separate link cable, the existing in-building LAN cabling can be leveraged. Installers simply connect the local extender to a LAN port in one room and the remote extender to a LAN port in another room, and the two extenders will find each other over the LAN to form a link connection. Both Point-to-Point Connection and LAN modes are supported without the need for configuration set-up.Utilizing a network also allows for switching between systems eliminating the need for specific AV matrix hardware.

Device Class Filtering
Device Class Filtering options are configured at the time of manufacture to block unwanted USB device types or alternatively, permit only certain USB device types. For example, consider a sensitive operation where classified files are not permitted for copy or it is imperative that no third party applications be loaded. The solution would be to block mass storage devices, thus rendering USB sticks and external hard drives useless to prevent read/write activity. Configuration options include any of the following: block (or permit) mass storage devices, keyboard/mouse, and isochronous traffic. Device Class Filtering will function whether using LAN or Point-to-Point Connection modes.

SwitchableUSB™

SwitchableUSB™ is a protocol developed by Icron to dynamically switch local and remote USB extender pairings over a LAN. Imagine the extenders being manually unplugged and re-plugged in swapped pairing configurations, but effortlessly via initiated command over the LAN. Your OEM control solution (perhaps a separate console or GUI software application for the host computer) would initiate the SwitchableUSB command configurations. The most common application would be video matrices: USB 2.0 signals can now move in conjunction with video signals, thus upgrading your OEM video matrix switch into a fully compatible USB 2.0 KVM network switch.

Vendor Lock
Configured at the time of manufacture vendor lock to prevent interoperability with other vendors leveraging the ExtremeUSB capabilities. This feature ensures a cohesive environment for your OEM brand by “locking out the competition” thus providing a seamless user experience for your customers and avoiding potential troubleshooting issues.

Simultaneous User Interaction
Simultaneous User Interaction enables up to seven different users in four different locations to collaboratively view and make changes to a document or image at the same time. Take a medical example to illustrate this concept: imagine an MRI patient undergoing a brain scan where several medical professionals in seven different locations want to review and discuss the results in real time interactively. The image scan is extended over LAN (requires separate video extender interface) to all four touch screen monitors allowing each user to scribe their inputs simultaneously. This functionality can also be applied in post production editing, training centers, military planning, conference rooms, and more!