Sunday 3 October 2010

USB isolator

New industrial-grade USB isolator shields host PC and connected devices from surges and noise

Acromag’s new compact USB-Isolator provides a protective barrier between connected USB devices to prevent equipment damage or errors from ground loops, high-voltage spikes, or conducted noise.

USB-IsolatorThis compact, industrial-rated isolator provides a high-voltage isolation barrier for USB 2.0 or 1.1 connections from computers to USB devices. It is useful to protect against over-voltage conditions caused by electrical surges and transient voltage spikes. Isolation also helps to eliminate ground loop errors and will minimize conducted noise from static discharge, magnetic fields, and radio frequency interference. Acromag’s isolator offers high noise immunity with low radiated emissions for reliable data transfer in sensitive applications. Industrial-grade features offer additional control for advanced users, and the unit is designed to meet UL/cUL and CE approval requirements. Typical applications involve process control devices, automation equipment, test and measurement systems, and medical instrumentation.

“Our new industrial-grade isolator combines high-voltage protection with special features like a manual reset button and selectable data transfer rates to add more value for demanding applications,” remarked Don Lupo, Acromag’s process sales and marketing director.

The isolator is inserted in-line with the USB connection and operates transparent to the devices with no software drivers required. It receives its power from USB and isolates that power to the connected device. A green power LED indicates that power is being received and will blink if the connected device is trying to draw more than 120mA. Default communication is USB Full Speed (12Mbps) but can alternately be set for Low Speed (1.5Mbps) via an internal jumper. The reset button enables re-initialization of a connected device without breaking the cable connection. High-retention USB A and USB B sockets increase connection integrity under shock and vibration. A 1 meter USB A-B cable is included for connection to the host computer.

Electrical isolation of up to 1500V AC / 2100V DC separates the USB host from the USB peripheral. Built-in surge/transient suppression up to 8kV protects all ports. Common mode filtering is also applied on all data lines. Output short circuit protection adds further safety and includes an auto-retry function.

Acromag is an international corporation that has been developing and manufacturing measurement and control products for more than 50 years. They offer a complete line of industrial I/O products including process instruments, signal conditioning equipment, data acquisition boards, distributed I/O modules, and network communication devices.

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