News Release

 

Oki Electric Cable commences sales of "USB3 Vision-compatible active optical cables" that support longer transmission distances than the USB3 standard

- Transmission distance of up to 20 m combined with excellent movement durability -

USB3 Vision-compatible active optical cables
USB3 Vision-compatible active optical cables

Oki Electric Cable Co., Ltd. (President: Masasuke Kishi, Head Office: Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa-ken, hereafter referred to as Oki Electric Cable) has recently developed the "USB3 Vision-compatible active optical cables (*1)" that are compliant with the USB3 Vision (*2) high-speed interface standard for machine vision (*3) cameras, offering a transmission distance of up to 20 m and a high-speed transmission of up to 5Gbps. This product will commence sales on 15 March, 2016.

USB3 Vision is a new interface standard for machine vision systems set based on the USB3.0 (*4) standard. Its data transfer speed is 10 times faster than the widely used USB2.0 and is expected to become a popular camera interface for machine vision systems.
However, the USB3.0 cables have a maximum transmission distance of 3 meters (2 meters shorter than the USB2.0) due to increased attenuation in the metallic cable caused by higher transmission speeds, making it unsuitable for use with equipment that require long cables to be run.

The new "USB3 Vision-compatible active optical cables" combines an electrical-optical signal conversion module with optical fiber, achieving a transmission distance of up to 20 m to comply with the USB3 Vision standard. This product offers stable data transmission in noisy environments and has higher movement durability than metallic cables, making it suitable for applications with high precision requirements, such as mounters (component mounting equipment), visual inspection systems, and medical inspection equipment incorporating a machine vision system.

The product lineup consists of a standard type offering a transmission distance of up to 20 m and a small-diameter type offering excellent maneuverability and a transmission distance of up to 10 m. In comparison to the standard type, the small-diameter type is approx. 30% thinner in diameter and 35% more lightweight and flexible, offering superior workability during installation and maintenance as well as contributing to equipment miniaturization and weight reduction.

In future, Oki Electric Cable will continue to develop new products that would support longer distance transmissions and comply with other interface standards.

Features

  • Maximum transmission distance Standard type: 20 m; Small-diameter type: 10 m (Up to 3 m for the USB3.0 standard)
  • Sliding/bending performance Standard type: Over 100 million times; Small-diameter type: Over 50 million times (R=70mm)
    (The sliding/bending performance of both standard and small-diameter models are the measured values, not guaranteed values)
  • High-speed transmission of up to 5Gbps.
  • Signals are transmitted using noise-tolerant optical fiber.
  • This product features a compact design with an electric-optic conversion module incorporated in the connector. This product has a built-in feeder line, so no external power supply is required.

Signal conversion/transmission schematic diagram

Signal conversion/transmission schematic diagram

Sales plans

Sales start period: 15 March, 2016
Sales target: 100+ million yen in fiscal 2016

Glossary of terms

  • *1: Active optical cables

    Active optic cables, also abbreviated AOC, are electric-optic conversion cables that enable high-speed and long-distance data transmission that is difficult to achieve with interface cables using metallic wires. In general, the connector houses an electric-optic conversion unit for converting electrical signals into optical signals to be transmitted through optical fiber; and optical signals are converted back into electrical signals at the other end of the cable. The most characteristic feature of this product is the physical compatibility with conventional electrical interfaces, allowing users to use it in the same manner as general interface cables.

  • *2:USB3 Vision

    A USB3.0-based interface standard for machine vision systems set by AIA (*5), a machine vision industry association in the United States. Standard-A and Micro-B connectors are used for this interface. The cables use connectors with a screw lock designed to prevent accidental unplugging.

  • *3:Machine vision

    Machine vision systems are used to check the product appearance and printing defects using one or more cameras, light source, image capture device, image processing equipment, etc. They are mainly used in equipment such as board mounting equipment and product label printers.

  • *4: USB3.0

    USB stands for Universal Serial Bus and is one of the serial bus standards for connecting peripheral equipment to devices such as PC. USB3.0 has a physical backward compatibility with USB2.0, but the former has 9 terminals in the connector whereas the latter only has 4 terminals. The data transfer speed is approx. 10 times the speed of USB2.0 (USB2.0: 480Mbps max./USB 3.0: 5Gbps max.). The maximum transmission distance of USB3.0 cables is only 3m, whereas that of USB2.0 cables is 5m.

  • *5: AIA

    AIA stands for Automated Imaging Association and is a standardization association consisting of operators in the machine vision industry. The association is responsible for the deliberation and standardization of the machine vision interface standard.

Press contact:
Corporate Planning Office
Phone: +81-44-754-4369
Contact Form: https://www.oki.com/cgi-bin/inquiryForm.cgi?p=k001e

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