IXI Technology Announces the DoD Has Awarded the Company a Contract for the Supply of the Universal Printer Interface Unit

YORBA LINDA, Calif., March 15, 2023 (Newswire.com) - The U.S. Department of Defense and its allies spend millions annually on printer support for all types of systems and equipment. These costs are incurred primarily on hardware maintenance and software updates for print drivers for printers no longer supported by manufacturers. Updating software configuration and drivers for systems is expensive and cannot be cost effectively adjusted when printers are changed.  

To address this challenge, IXI Technology developed the Universal Printer Interface Unit (UPIU), which allows nearly any printer to be used with any system. The UPIU is the first of its kind to support multiple different local and networked methods to translate almost any system or equipment output data into a printable format.

The UPIU is a multi-protocol printer adapter that decouples and isolates printer functions from systems software. The UPIU connects to an existing network or other interface, eliminating the need to change addresses, ports, drivers or hardware on the system side. The decoupling provided by the UPIU allows virtually any commercially available printer to be used.

The UPIU allows a network's configuration to remain unchanged while providing an upgrade path for future growth or reconfiguration.

The UPIU acts as an intermediary between locked-down systems and networked printers. An external printer connects to the UPIU via a USB or Ethernet port to provide a hard copy. Power to the external printer is provided via a connector on the UPIU, eliminating the need for any new wiring. In normal use, the UPIU operates without operator intervention.

The UPIU works with multiple printer protocols and is agnostic to users. Changes to printer drivers for those protocols that are not printer-agnostic can be made to the UPIU. Locked-down systems do not have to be modified.

Separate ports are available for commercial keyboard and mouse. VGA and HDMI are available for configuration purposes and can be used to attach a display. They can also be used with a special protected configuration mode that enables the UPIU to work with new-model printers or IP addressing schemes.

The UPIU is full Mil-Qualified to environmental and EMI requirements.

"The technological achievement of the UPIU adds to IXI's product line of universal data translation; for printing, or into ethernet or fiber protocols," said Michael Carter, CEO of IXI Technology.

IXI Technology designs and manufactures electronics and software for Systems Emulation and Virtualization, and Data Translation from Tactical Data Systems, STANAG, RS-232, 422, 485, COAX, TRIAX, RF, VIDEO, SYNCHROS, and others into Ethernet or Fiber. IXI's products are deployed worldwide in Radar, Sonar, Navigation, Communications, and Fire Control Systems. IXI products provide Cyber Security, Encryption and Virtualization. www.ixitech.com

Source: IXI Technology