SB 3.0 is the third version of the Universal Serial Bus and its capabilities are far beyond that of the previous USB 2.0 and 1.1.

With SuperSpeed throughput speeds of up to 5Gbps and a full duplex system gives USB 3.0 a potential bandwidth ten times that of USB 2.0. There is no doubt of USB 3.0’s excellent capabilities.

However, USB 3.0 suffers from a major disadvantage - a maximum distance of 3 metres.

This is extremely limiting in industrial environments where the USB peripherals may be located in away to the host PC. However, with their industry leading technology, Icron have pushed past this barrier, allowing you to use USB 3.0 devices with connections further than the 3 metre distance with two products:

Spectra 3001-15

The Icron Spectra 3001-15 is a one port 15m active copper extension cable. Designed as a short-range solution, the Spectra 3001-15 features a locking AIA USB3 connector and rugged grade cabling. Which makes this suitable for industrial and commercial applications such as medical, military, robotics and machine vision applications.


Spectra 3022

The Icron Spectra 3022 is a two port USB 3.0 Superspeed extension solution. When greater distances are required than the 15m, the Spectra 3022 can reach up to 100m/330ft over multi-mode fibre. By using a fibre connection, the Spectra delivers speed, isolation and security for all USB connections. The two port hub features locking AIA USB3 connectors which makes it ideal for applications such as machine vision, post-production editing and remote storage.



With Icron’s patented ExtremeUSB, both the Spectra 3001-15 and the Spectra 3022 provide a transparent USB connection, true plug-and-play capabilities and are compatible with all major operating systems (Windows, OS X and Linux). These extenders will allow you to take advantage of USB 3.0 SuperSpeed 5Gbps throughput speeds without the loss of performance even at the full extension of 100m.

Specifications table for Icron's USB 3.0 Extenders:

Spectra 3001-15 Spectra 3022
Device Types USB 3.0 USB 3.0
Maximum Throughput Speeds 5 Gbps 5 Gbps
Transmission Media Active Copper Cable Multimode Fibre Optic
Max Distance 15 metre (49ft) Up to 100 metre (330ft)
USB Ports 1x USB 3.0 Type A Locking Receptacle 2x USB 3.0 Type A Locking Receptacle
Available Current 900mA to each USB port 900mA to each USB port
Power Supply Location Bus Powered at host connector REX

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