Wireless USB


Looks like Gefen is taking orders on a new wireless USB 2.0 extender with 60 foot max. range.

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=4105

Perhaps this one will work better than Belkin's offering.
bigamp
So, in theory, this Icron device will work on an Offramp Turbo 2 or a USB DAC?
If the Icron device supports Isochronous, it should work. I hope the B/W is sufficient for 24/96. Since it is based on 802.11G and not ultrawideband, I think it should work fine. Kind of spendy though....

It's interesting that the "cablefree" thing has changed from ultrawideband to 802.11g.

I read the white-paper and it makes sense. Essentially, what happens is instead of the device acknowledging the transaction, the software sends a bogus "NACK" or non-acknowledgment and then later after the host retries again, the actual ACK is received wirelessly and sent to the host. So, it's a deferral of the ACK, knowing that the host will do a retry. It may cause the host to send the data multiple times though, until it finally gets an ACK, which could reduce bandwidth or cause dropouts. I guess it depends on how much buffering they put in the hub devices. As long as the buffers dont empty, then it should work without hiccoughs. Seems to me that isochronous does not do retries though. I'm no expert on USB though. Interestingly, they only show the protocol in the read direction. The spec sheet also says max bandwidth TBD.

I will give them a call. I think I'll have to buy and try this one.

Steve N.
That sounds promising. I placed a pre-order as well. Anticipated release is 1st week of April, but they may release early.

It's interesting that the "cablefree" thing has changed from ultrawideband to 802.11g.

It appears that they are starting with 802.11g, and will eventually move into other standards. Not sure whether all of these will work for what we want to do, or whether they will keep isochronous communication for all of these formats (from the first link above):

Wireless Standards Supported:
UWB, 802.11b/g/a/n, 900Mhz, 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz proprietary solutions
I've pre-ordered one. I am thinking about putting one inside my new Formula One DAC. After talking with the rep, I believe it will work fine. Working with Icron to determine FCC requirements for OEM boards.