Posted by Nathan on August 14, 2009


USB extension cables – an ideal way to extend your computer

According to USB specification, the usage of passive USB extension cables for a distance of up to 16 feet is permitted. A passive extension cable is one which doesn’t consist of an active repeater chip in it. The primary reason for this limit is the maximum allowed round-trip delay of about 1500ns.

If USB host commands are unanswered by the USB device within the allowed time. The host considers the command to be lost. The maximum accepted delay is 26ns else the host considers the command to be lost. 

Since USB host interfaces are required to provide power for devices connected to them, a special type of USB extender cable was created, consisting of a miniature one-port USB hub molded onto one end of a 5-metre cable. These mini-hubs are fully self-contained within the cable. They are as simple to use as plugging cables together, with each hub drawing power through all the previous single-port hubs in the chain.

These passive extension cables are much cheaper because it doesn’t consist of a repeater as in an active extension cable. These cables have a male USB port on one end and a female port on the other end like most USB extenders.

The USB 2.0 specification requires cable delay to be less than 5.2ns per meter. In order to use USB extension cables with a device, you plug the extension cable directly into the USB port on a computer.

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