Integrate the U8S into a cart, case, trolley or desk unit to offer intelligent charging and data transfer.
The U8S is a pre-designed module to
allow a user to connect and charge 8x USB devices with a single host computer.
It is a module which is ready to drop into your design to offer functionality
which adds real value to your product.
The U8S should not be confused with
a standard USB hub, the U8S is, like all Cambrionix products, over-engineered
to provide both high current charging for 8x power-hungry USB devices as well
as robust data transfer to the host and a control interface accessible via our
API (application programming interface) or Live Viewer App.
In addition to being able to use an
off the shelf component for your universal charging and data requirements, we
offer a number of reference designs for front panel displays using both LED and
LCD. These displays can be used to provide user feedback on port status,
animated charging icons or arbitrary text which can be sent to the displays via
our API.
These reference designs are provided
free of charge and we offer design-in support.
Reliability was the number one
priority when designing the U8S and as a result, we are yet to receive a
statistically significant number of returned units. The U8S powers over 100,000
(one hundred thousand!) USB ports across the world for OEMs on each continent.
Our reliability means that once the
U8S is built into its target system, for example a smart charging locker, you
are very unlikely to experience a customer returned unit due to a faulty U8S.
Internally, the U8S has a
microcontroller at its heart which allows our unique API and Live Viewer app to
display information about each port and also allows the user to control those
ports in a variety of ways. We have partnered with a number of component
suppliers during the development of the U8S and have deep knowledge of every
component used within the U8S design.
The U8S is supplied with the latest
Cambrionix firmware although updating the firmware is performed quickly and
easily using the Firmware Updater App which is available as a free download. We
can offer new versions of firmware to add additional API features and
additional charging profiles for obscure devices which may not necessarily
adhere to documented standards (or not be on the market yet).
All versions of the U8S support our
API which allows you to automate, monitor and control each port programatically
using a variety of programming languages. With the API you can monitor current
consumption of each individual port, total connection time, charging time, turn
power on/off to individual ports, emulate different charging profiles, read USB
VID/PID and much more.
The API consists of a service module
or daemon that is loaded on the host computer. The service module is accessed
via JSON-RPC calls over a TCP/IP socket.
Cambrionix provides sample Python code complete with the necessary JSON library
code to be able to make the necessary calls for controlling Cambrionix products
that are connected to the host computer.
It is of course possible to access
the API from any programming environment that has support for making JSON-RPC calls over a TCP/IP socket.
The API is available as a free
download and is well documented and supported by Cambrionix engineers.
We also supply our Live Viewer App
which allows you to monitor and control ports using a graphical user interface.
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