Adaptec's AHA-8945 host adapter links both high-performance
SCSI peripherals and 1394-enabled consumer electronics
products to PCs and Macs using only one PCI slot.
Adaptec's implementation of the IEEE 1394 serial bus
technology-the AHA-8940 host adapter-enabes PC and Macintosh
computers to connect to current and emerging 1394 peripherals,
including DV camcorders, digital VCRs, color printers,
scanners, digital still cameras, DVD players, and more.
FireWire is a cross-platform implementation of the
high-speed serial data bus -- defined by IEEE Standard
1394 that can move large amounts of data between computers
and peripheral devices.
IEEE 1394 was conceived by Apple Computer and then
developed within the IEEE 1394 Working Group. The IEEE
1394 standard is a scalable, flexible, easy to use,
low-cost digital interface that will integrate the worlds
of consumer electronics and personal computers.
The market has been calling for one interface to connect
all of it's components. The interface that can meet
these needs is the IEEE standard 1394, called Firewire
by its pioneers at Apple. 1394 is compatible with a
wide range of devices as well as having speed and price
advantages over current data transfer systems. The disadvantages
of SCSI based systems are two fold. First SCSI is a
parallel interface and second it is an expensive route
for computer speed. The SCSI, as well as other parallel
buses, have a very limited connectability. Firewire
can connect almost all computer peripherals such as
printers, scanners, modems, keyboards, displays (monitors),
hard drives and CD-ROM drives.
Along with these computer peripherals Firewire will
support the connection of digital cameras, digital camcorders
and televisions, along with all other digital consumer
audio and video equipment.
There has always been a compatibility gap between the
use of these consumer electronics and computers. Typically
a special feature card would be required to translate
signals into something that the computer could understand,
but now the world can just plug the universal connection
(1394) into both the personal computer and consumer
electronics.
Why another Bus?
Today when you "surf the web" for information
and click on a "hot link" you must wait for
the bit-mapped date to download. Imagine, selecting
an icon and almost immediately that image is on your
screen. FireWire is one of the technologies that will
help make this future a reality.
Several key trends and requirements are emerging for
the transfer of digital information:
Consumer electronics and computers are converging.
There is a desire to keep data digital for as long
as possible as a means to reduce system cost, complexity,
and improve signal integrity.
With the emergence of multimedia market, more and
more data is video and audio.
The ability to work with time sensitive data is
growing in importance.
Miniaturization is continuing. Small products are
favored for portability, convenience, and material
usage resources.
Consumers are beginning to purchase computers the
way they choose consumer electronics.Their criteria
are: reliability, convenience, and simplicity.
The need and desire for Peer to Peer computing is
growing.
The master-slave model is changing as computing
becomes distributed.
FireWire Advantages
FireWire provides many advantages over other peripheral interconnection
technologies. The cables are as simple to connect as a telephone
cord--there is no need for screws or latches. And, unlike
SCSI technology, FireWire is autoconfiguring--so it eliminates
SCSI device ID conflicts and the need for terminators. FireWire
is also a hot plug-and-play technology, which means that a
device can be disconnected and then reconnected without the
need to restart the computer. FireWire is fast--it can transfer
digital data at 200 megabits per second, with a planned increase
to 400 megabits per second and beyond. And, the FireWire technology
supports expansion--up to 63 devices can be attached on the
same FireWire bus. Finally, FireWire includes support for
isochronous data transfer, which provides guaranteed bandwidth
for real-time video and audio streams.
Real-time data transfer for multimedia applications
100, 200, & 400Mbits/s data rates today; 800 Mbits/s
and multi-Gbits/s upgrade path
Live connection/disconnection without data loss or
interruption
Automatic configuration supporting "plug and
play"
Free form network tool allowing mixing branches and
daisy-chains
No separate line terminators required
Guaranteed bandwidth assignments for real-time applications
Common connectors for different devices and applications
One of the most important uses of FireWire as the digital
interface for consumer electronics and AV peripherals. FireWire
is a peer-to-peer interface. This allows dubbing from one
camcorder to another without a computer. It also allows multiple
computers to share a given peripheral without any special
support in the peripheral or the computers.
System Requirements
FireWire PCI-card solutions are compatible with any Power
Macintosh or Mac OS-compatible computer with an available
PCI slot and Mac OS Version 7.6 or higher.
Theoretical Transfer Speed Rates Of Various
Ports Compared
Technology
Theoretical Maximum Throughput
Megabits
Theoretical Maximum Throughput
Megabytes
Used For
Apple Desktop Bus
0.01 Mbps or 10 Kbps
0.0013MBps
input devices like mice, keyboards, joysticks, etc
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