Multi-USB controller chip PCI cards?

[mbliu]

Hi everyone,

I'm developing software using multiple Kinect cameras (up to 6) and I have run into USB bandwidth issues. It seems that each Kinect camera needs its own USB 2.0 controller in order to provide enough bandwidth. I have tested this with the 2 controllers that come with my motherboard (one feeding the front ports and the other feeding the back. Two Kinects on one controller doesn't work but one on each does.)

Does anyone know of any PCI (or PCI-e) USB controller expansion slots that have MULTIPLE USB controllers on them? I don't have room for 4 additional expansion cards... although I'm not sure such a product exists. (Or, are there any high throughput USB2.0 controllers that could maybe support two kinects? USB3.0 is not supported.)

Thanks!

 

[alex59]

Hi everyone,

I'm developing software using multiple Kinect cameras (up to 6) and I have run into USB bandwidth issues. It seems that each Kinect camera needs its own USB 2.0 controller in order to provide enough bandwidth. I have tested this with the 2 controllers that come with my motherboard (one feeding the front ports and the other feeding the back. Two Kinects on one controller doesn't work but one on each does.)

Does anyone know of any PCI (or PCI-e) USB controller expansion slots that have MULTIPLE USB controllers on them? I don't have room for 4 additional expansion cards... although I'm not sure such a product exists. (Or, are there any high throughput USB2.0 controllers that could maybe support two kinects? USB3.0 is not supported.)

Thanks!

Hi,

I faced the same issue and did some investigations. Here is what I found:

If you need usb3, the RocketU 1144 pci-e (4x) board provides 4 independent controllers and is available at around $100.

If you only need usb2, google points to the U2X4-PCIE1X01 pci-e (1x) board from IOI which provides four independent ports. It is advertised on the manufacturer web site as a "Quad Channel" usb controller. This board seems expensive and hard to find.

It looks like the IOI board actually relies on a Moschip MCS9990 chipset and the component datasheet claims: "MCS9990 supports up to 4 USB 2.0 ports and each port can be configured independently and all ports operate simultaneously without any performance limitations.". Several boards relying on this chip can be found on ebay below $20. Some models like the SYBA SD-PEX20052 even have a molex power connector for usb devices that need extra power.

Hope this helps