VIA Labs Demos USB 3.0 Active Optical Cable Solution At CES 2012

VIA labs is showing off an interesting new USB 3.0 cabling solution at CES 2012. The cable is a USB 3.0 Active Optical Cable (AOC) solution that allows the user to shoot bandwidth hogging content like HD video and more over long distances using the USB 3.0 port on a computer. The tech is powered by the VIA Labs VO510 5Gb Optical Transceiver.

The new transceiver allows the USB 3.0 AOC to shoot multimedia over distances of 100 meters. VIA says that this AOC is fully compliant with SuperSpeed USB electrical specifications. The usages for USB 3.0 ports grow significantly with the much longer distances the new AOC allows. VIA Labs says that the port can now be used to power digital signage, surveillance, and zero client applications.

The new optical solution allows the 100m or 330-foot distance thanks to using light rather than electronic pulses. The light is highly resistant to EMI and doesn't radiate EMI of its own. That lack of EMI will make the optical USB cabling solution appealing in places where EMI is a big issue such as medical imaging.

[via VIA-Labs]