The IEEE1394 interface is a serial standard developed by Apple, also known as the Firewire interface. IEEE1394 supports hot swapping of peripherals, providing power for peripherals without the need for built-in power. It can connect multiple different devices and supports synchronous data transmission.

IEEE1394 is divided into two transmission modes: Backplane mode and Cable mode. The minimum speed of Backplane mode is also higher than the maximum speed of USB 1.1, which is 12.5Mbps, 25Mbps, and 50Mbps, respectively, and can be used for most high-bandwidth applications. Cable mode is a very fast mode, divided into several types: 100Mbps, 200Mbps, and 400Mbps.

IEEE1394 connector:

1394b is an upgraded version of 1394 technology. It is the only home network standard designed specifically for multimedia video, audio, control and computers. It realizes high-performance home network through low-cost and secure CAT5 (five categories). 1394a has been offering products since 1995, and 1394b is a downward compatibility extension of 1394a technology. 1394b can provide a transmission speed of 800Mbps or higher.

Compared to USB interfaces, in the early days of USB 1.1, the 1394a interface had a significant advantage in speed. After the release of USB 2.0, the speed advantage of the 1394a interface was no longer as obvious. At the same time, the absolute majority of mainstream computers do not have a 1394 interface configured, and to use it, it is necessary to purchase relevant interface cards, which increases additional expenses. There are few external optical storage devices with a simple 1394 interface, and most of them are multi interface products with both 1394 and USB interfaces, making them more flexible and convenient to use.

The original design of IEEE 1394 was based on its high-speed transmission rate, allowing users to edit electronic image files directly on their computers through the IEEE 1394 interface to save hard disk space. Before IEEE 1394, editing electronic images required the use of special hardware to download videos to a hard drive for editing. As hard drive space becomes cheaper, the high-speed IEEE 1394 has instead replaced USB 2.0 as the best interface for external computer hard drives. But the development of USB has never stopped, and ultra fast USB has surpassed the 3.2Gbit/s bus speed of IEEE-1394b.

The theoretical longest line length that 1394A can support is 4.5 meters, with a standard normal transmission rate of 100Mbps, and supports up to 63 devices.

communication protocol

It has three protocol layers, namely: transaction layer, physical layer, and link data layer. Among them, the transaction layer only supports asynchronous transmission, while synchronous transmission is provided by the link layer

features

IEEE 1394 inherits the mature SCSI instruction system, resulting in high transmission stability and efficiency. Compared with USB2.0, it also has a lower burden on the CPU; Although the highest recorded value of IEEE 1394A is lower than USB2.0, its actual transmission speed is superior to USB2.0. Therefore, it is used on various interfaces that require high-speed and stable data transmission. Due to the business target relationship, there are multiple names such as FireWire, iLink, DV terminal, etc.

FireWire was originally a synonym for Apple's development. On May 29, 2002, the then Apple computer was officially published in the IEEE 1394 promotion group "1394 Trade Association", which designated the trademark "FireWire" belonging to Apple as the unified brand of IEEE 1394; In addition, Sony installed the IEEE 1394 interface on its digital audio and camera products, named it "i.Link", and registered it as its trademark before Apple made FireWire a unified brand.