What is IEEE 1394

IEEE1394 interface is the serial standard developed by Apple, the Chinese translation is the FireWire Interface (FireWire). Like USB, IEEE1394 also supports hot-swappable peripherals, which provide power to peripherals, eliminate the power supply from the peripherals, connect multiple different devices, and support synchronous data transmission.

IEEE1394 is divided into two transmission modes: Backplane mode and cable mode. The minimum rate of Backplane mode is also higher than the USB1.1 maximum rate, which is 12.5 Mbps, Mbps, Mbps, and can be used for most high-bandwidth applications. The cable mode is a very fast mode, divided into Mbps, Mbps, and Mbps, and can transmit high-quality, uncompressed data movies at 200Mbps.

1394B is an upgraded version of 1394 technology and is the only home network standard designed specifically for multimedia-video, audio, control, and computer. It achieves a high-performance home network through Low-cost, secure CAT5 (five categories). 1394A has been providing products since 1995, 1394b is a backward-compatible extension of 1394a technology. 1394B can provide Mbps or higher transmission speed, although there is no 1394b interface of optical storage products appear, but it is believed that in the near future will inevitably appear in front of the user.

Compared to the USB interface, early in the USB1.1 era, 1394a interface in the speed of a great advantage, after the launch of USB2.0, 1394a interface in the speed of the advantage is no longer so obvious. At the same time, the absolute majority of the mainstream computers are not configured with 1394 interfaces, to use the necessary to purchase the relevant interface card, additional expenses. At present, the simple 1394 interface of the external optical storage is very few, mostly with 1394 and USB interface of the multiple interface products, the use of more flexible and convenient.

The original design of IEEE 1394, with its high rate of transmission, allows users to edit electronic image files directly through the IEEE 1394 interface on their computers to save hard disk space. Before IEEE 1394, editing an electronic image must use special hardware to download the movie to the hard disk for editing. But as disk space becomes cheaper, the high speed IEEE 1394 replaces USB 2.0 as the best interface for external computer hard drives.

1394A can support theoretically the longest line length of 4.5 meters, the standard normal transmission rate of 100Mbps, and support up to 63 devices.

IEEE 1394a-2000 (FireWire 400)

It is almost identical with IEEE 1394-1995, and the new specifications developed after several places have been improved. It is called "FireWire 400" for the purposes of the IEEE 1394b respectively. When used in industry, it is sometimes simply called ". a".

IEEE 1394b-2002 (FireWire 800)

FireWire 800, which is the highest speed specification for 800Mbps, is compatible with IEEE 1394a, but the shape of the connector changes from IEEE 1394a 6 pin to 9 pin, so it needs to be connected via a wiring switch. When used in industry, it is sometimes simply called ". B".

IEEE 1394c-2006 (FireWire s800t)

FireWire s800t, released on June 8, 2007, offers a major technical improvement, with the new Connector specification and RJ45 identical, and the use of CAT-5 (5-type twisted pair) and the same automatic protocol, which can be used to connect any IEEE 1394 device or IEEE 802.3 (1000base-t Ethernet twisted pair) device.

It sounds pretty glamorous, but until October 2008, there was no product or chip in the market to include this capability.

S1600 and S3200

The

IEEE 1394 Promotion Group 1394 Trade Association, announced in December 2007, will be able to use the new expansion specification S1600 (theoretical value to 1.6 gbit/s) and S3200 mode by the end of 2008 (theoretical value up to 3.2 gbit/s )。 This expansion specification uses the 9 PIN connectors and cables currently used by FireWire800 and will be fully compatible with FireWire 400 and FireWire 800 devices. This is to prepare for the USB 3.0 specification.