[Infowarrior] - 3.2 Gigabit per Second Speed for FireWire

[Richard Forno]

1394 Trade Association Announces 3.2 Gigabit per Second Speed for FireWire

http://www.1394ta.org/Press/2007Press/december/12.12.a.htm

New S3200 specification delivers higher speed than competing technologies -
and much sooner - with no changes to connectors or cables

Dallas, Dec. 12, 2007 -- The 1394 Trade Association today announced a new
specification to quadruple the speed of FireWire to reach 3.2 gigabits per
second.

The new electrical specification, known as S3200, builds upon the IEEE 1394b
standard, preserving all the advantages of FireWire while offering a major
and unprecedented boost in performance. The new speed uses the cables and
connectors already deployed for FireWire 800 products, making the transition
forward easy and convenient for 1394 product vendors and their customers.
Because the 1394 arbitration, data, and service protocols were not modified
for S3200, silicon and software vendors can deploy the faster speed FireWire
quickly and with confidence that it will deliver its full potential
performance. The S3200 specification is expected to be ratified by early
February.

FireWire 800 products deployed since 2003 have proven that IEEE 1394b
delivers outstanding performance. Operating without polling, without idle
times, and without continuous software management, FireWire 800 efficiently
delivers more than 97 percent of its bit rate as payload -- not overhead.
FireWire 800 hard drives today can easily move over 90 megabytes per second.
S3200 preserves 100 percent of the 1394b design efficiency and will deliver
extremely high payload speeds reaching nearly 400 megabytes per second.
Other interface technologies struggle to deliver half their advertised bit
rate to the user, even under optimal conditions.

No Compromises to 1394¹s Features

The S3200 specification brings FireWire to this new performance level
without compromising existing features. For example, FireWire provides much
more electrical power than any other interface, freeing users from
inconvenient AC power adapters. FireWire products built using S3200 will
directly connect to every previously released FireWire product. Alternative
cable options are available to carry FireWire over long distances - 100
meters or more - even at high speeds.

Also, FireWire¹s peer-to-peer architecture allows products to operate with a
computer - or without one. This superior combination of features is not
found in any other technology, which explains why over one billion FireWire
ports have been shipped to date, on products as diverse as computers,
cameras, televisions, hard drives, and musical instruments. IEEE 1394 also
is deployed in vital applications in state-of-the-art aircraft and polar
orbiting satellites.

S3200 Strengthens 1394¹s Position in Storage, Consumer Electronics

One of the strongest markets today for FireWire is storage for computers.
The best hard drives with FireWire 800 can move data almost three times as
fast as the best hard drives with USB 2.0. Also, FireWire provides much more
electrical power than USB, so FireWire-equipped hard drives can operate
without an AC adapter, and at high rotational speeds. USB hard drives can
fail to work from USB power, or require a second USB cable for power, or use
the lowest-performance drive mechanisms because so little power is
available.

With S3200 this power advantage for FireWire is fully preserved. S3200 also
makes FireWire so fast that users will see no advantage from eSATA. Both
interfaces are much faster than any modern hard drive mechanism, but eSATA
does not provide electrical power to operate a drive. On a computer, an
eSATA port is far less flexible than a FireWire port, because many more
devices can connect to FireWire. For these reasons, S3200 makes FireWire the
superior choice for future external storage products.

S3200 will also enhance FireWire¹s strong position in consumer electronics
A/V devices such as camcorders and televisions. Today, 100 percent of HD set
top boxes provided by cable companies have FireWire ports. So do 100 models
of HDTV. FireWire is the only separable interface today that can record HD
programs in their full digital quality while also meeting the content
protection requirements of copyright holders. Many companies are pursuing
whole-home HD network solutions using FireWire - notably the HANA Alliance.

Technology development is also nearing completion to permit FireWire to
operate over cable television coaxial cables, without disrupting the
existing program content. With S3200, FireWire becomes fast enough to move
even uncompressed HD signals over long distances at much lower cost than
solutions such as HDMI.

"The S3200 standard will sustain the position of IEEE 1394 as the absolute
performance leader in multi-purpose I/O ports for consumer applications in
computer and CE devices," said James Snider, executive director, 1394 Trade
Association. "There is a very clear migration path from 800 Megabits/second
to 3.2 Gigabits/second, with no need for modifications to the standard and
no requirement for new cables or connectors."

The Silicon Working Group developed the S3200 specification within the 1394
Trade Association, with participation by industry leaders including Symwave,
Texas Instruments, LSI Corporation, and Oxford Semiconductor. S3200
specifies the electrical operation of the 3.2 Gigabit mode first specified
by IEEE 1394b-2002, without changing any connector, cable, protocol, or
software requirements. Based on the working group's progress, the Trade
Association has set a January 2008 date for the specification to enter a
ratification process.

The 1394 Trade Association is a worldwide organization dedicated to the
advancement and enhancement of the IEEE 1394 audio video standard. For more
information, visit www.1394ta.org

Contact:
Dick Davies
415 652 7515
ipra at mindspring.com