Industrial USB is the name given to the use of the USB protocol in an industrial environment, for data acquisition, automation, and production machine control.

Until recently, USB has been thought of strictly as a consumer communication bus, commonly used for PC peripherals. However, its popularity has caused increasing interest for USB in the industrial space. The introduction of USB 2.0, with a transfer rate of 480 Mbit/s, provides a solution for implementing a portable high speed diagnostic system.

Some of the advantages are:

• High-speed transfer rates with USB 2.0 at 480 Mbit/s
• Easy setup due to Plug-and-Play
• Portability

The difficulties of Industrial USB include:

• Connector strain relief
• Maximum cable length of 5m (with commercially available USB hubs and extenders, it is possible to extend USB up to 30 m or 500 m, respectively)

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