Introduction

About IEEE1394

IEEE1394 is an industry standard approved by IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). The serial interface has a broad bandwidth and is fast enough to bidirectionally transfer large amounts of digital video and audio data between electronic devices including computer peripherals. Also known as FireWire and i.LINK, the IEEE1394 interface allows units to transfer data or various controls over a single IEEE1394 interface cable. Unlike legacy serial interfaces such as RS-232C, IEEE1394 allows a daisy- chaining (serial connection) of devices and any two devices in the chain can transfer data to each other. IEEE1394 also supports a tree (parallel) connection of devices. In addition to this flexibility, IEEE1394 also eliminates the need for complicated settings as found in SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), such as device ID and termination. As of writing, IEEE1394 supports three different data transfer rates: 100Mbps, 200Mbps, and 400Mbps.

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