IEEE 1394

What is 1394?
 The IEEE 1394 is the high-speed serial bus standard for providing enhanced PC connectivity to a wide range of peripherals and devices. The IEEE 1394 multimedia connection enables simple, low-cost, high-bandwidth asynchronous (real - time) data interfacing between computers, peripherals, and consumer electronics products such as camcorders, VCRs, printers, PCs, TVs, and digital cameras. With transfer speeds up to 400 Mbps and the proposed enhancement in IEEE 1394b beginning at 800 Mbps, IEEE 1394 is well suited to meeting the requirements of multi streaming I/O devices. IEEE 1394 compatible products and systems allow users to transfer video or still images from a camera or camcorder to a printer, PC, or television, with no image degradation.

History of 1394
 The IEEE 1394 digital link standard was originated in 1986 by a technologist at Apple Computer, who chose the trademark "Fire Wire", in reference to its versatile, high-speed operation system. The industry's leading technology companies developed it, and the specification was accepted as an industry standard on December 12, 1995.  Since 1,393 standards had already been considered, their efforts were called IEEE 1394.

IEEE 1394 Applications
 Applications that benefit from IEEE 1394 include nonlinear (digital) video presentation and editing, desktop and commercial publishing, document imaging, home multimedia, and personal computing. Many digital camcorders and cameras already use IEEE 1394 to seamlessly connect to notebooks and desktop PCs. It allows you to create broadcast-quality video at consumer prices; because they are digital, they produce clean, sharp images that make older analog formats pale in comparison. You can bring analog formats into your notebook or PCs with no conversion losses and can also capture still images and transfer them digitally to you PC. This all digital process eliminates the need to develop pictures and scan them into your PC. Another popular peripheral to take advantage of IEEE 1394 fast data transfer is portable IEEE 1394 Hard Drives. The advantage of these portable devices is that extra storage space can be simply hot plugged into the external port of your notebook or PC. The low overhead, high data rates of 1394, the ability to mix real-time and asynchronous data on a single connection, and the ability to mix low speed and high speed devices on the same network, provide a truly universal connection for almost any consumer, computer or peripheral application.

ADVANTAGES OF IEEE-1394
Speed: up to 400 Mb/sec with 800, 1600 and 3200 Mb/sec in development
Expandability up to 63 devices supported
Convenience: Easy to use cable and connectors for plug-and-play
Low-cost

Guaranteed delivery of multiple data streams through asynchronous data transport