Firewire Main

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FireWire


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.: Introduction :.

FireWire, originally developed by Apple Computer, Inc is a cross platformimplementation of the high speed serial data bus -define by the IEEE1394-1995 [FireWire 400],IEEE 1394a-2000 [FireWire 800] and IEEE1394b standards-that move large amounts of data between computers andperipheral devices. Its features simplified cabling, hot swapping and

transfer speeds of up to 800 megabits per second. FireWire is a high-speed serial input/output (I/O) technology for connecting peripheraldevices to a computer or to each other. IEEE 1394 is the High-DefinitionAudio-Video Network Alliance (HANA) standard connection interface forA/V (audio/visual) component communication and control. It is one of thefastest peripheral standards ever developed and now, at 800 megabits persecond (Mbps), its even faster . The interface is also known by the brandnames of FireWire (Apple), i.LINK(Sony), and Lynx (Texas Instruments) .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Definition_Audio-Video_Network_Alliancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Definition_Audio-Video_Network_Alliancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Instrumentshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Instrumentshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Definition_Audio-Video_Network_Alliancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Definition_Audio-Video_Network_Alliance


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Based on Apple-developed technology, FireWire was adopted in 1995 as anofficial industry standard (IEEE 1394) for cross-platform peripheralconnectivity. By providing a high-bandwidth, easy-to-use I/O technology,FireWire inspired a new generation of consumer electronics devices frommany companies, including Canon, Epson, HP, Iomega, JVC, LaCie, Maxtor,Mitsubishi, Matsushita (Panasonic), Pioneer, Samsung, Sony and FireWirehas also been a boon to professional users because of the high-speedconnectivity it has brought to audio and video production systems.

Now FireWire 800, the next generation of FireWire technology, promisesto spur the development of more innovative high-performance devices andapplications. This technology brief describes the advantages of FireWire

800 and some of the applications for which it is ideally suited.

.:What is FireWire?:.

(6 pin to 6 pin FireWire Cable)

FireWire is a method of transferring information between digital devices,especially audio and video equipment. Also known as IEEE 1394, FireWireis fast -- the latest version achieves speeds up to 800 Mbps. At sometime in the future, that number is expected to jump to an unbelievable 3.2Gbps when manufacturers overhaul the current FireWire cables.


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You can connect up to 63 devices to a FireWire bus. Windows operatingsystems (98 and later) and Mac OS (8.6 and later) both support it.

Let's say you have your digital camcorder connected to your homecomputer. When your computer powers up, it queries all of the devicesconnected to the bus and assigns each one an address, a process calledenumeration. FireWire is plug-and-play, so if you connect a new FireWiredevice to your computer, the operating system auto-detects it and asksfor the driver disc. If you've already installed the device, the computeractivates it and starts talking to it. FireWire devices are hot pluggable,which means they can be connected and disconnected at any time, evenwith the power on.

.:Technical Specifications:.FireWire can connect up to 63 peripherals in a tree or daisy-chaintopology (as opposed to Parallel SCSI's electrical bus topology). It allowspeer-to-peer device communication such as communication between ascanner and a printer ,to take place without using system memory or theCPU.FireWire also supports multiple hosts per bus. It is designed tosupport plug and play and hot swapping. The copper cable it uses in itsmost common implementation can be up to 100 meters long and is moreflexible than most parallel SCSI cables. In its six-conductor or nine-conductor variations, it can supply up to 45 watts of power per port at upto 30 volts, allowing moderate-consumption devices to operate without aseparate power supply.

FireWire devices are organized at the bus in a tree topology. Each devicehas a unique self-id. One of the nodes is elected root node and always hasthe highest id. The self-ids are assigned during the self-id process, whichhappens after each bus resets. The order in which the self-ids areassigned is equivalent to traversing the tree depth-first, post-order.
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/camcorder.htmhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/pc.htmhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/operating-system.htmhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/power-supply.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_peripheralhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_topologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_(computing)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_processing_unithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_(computing)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug_and_playhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_swappinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_SCSIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth-first_searchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth-first_searchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_SCSIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_swappinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug_and_playhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_(computing)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_processing_unithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_(computing)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_topologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_peripheralhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/power-supply.htmhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/operating-system.htmhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/pc.htmhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/camcorder.htm


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FireWire is capable of safely operating critical systems due to the waymultiple devices interact with the bus and how the bus allocatesbandwidth to the devices. FireWire is capable of both asynchronous and

isochronous transfer methods at once. Isochronous data transfers aretransfers for devices that require continuous, guaranteed bandwidth. Inan aircraft, for instance, Isochronous devices include control of therudder, mouse operations and data from pressure sensors outside theaircraft. All these elements require constant, uninterrupted bandwidth.To support both elements, FireWire dedicates a certain percentage toisochronous data and the rest to asynchronous data. In IEEE 1394 80% of

the bus is reserved for isochronous cycles, leaving asynchronous data witha minimum of 20% of the bus.

.:Different Versions:.

The original FireWire specification, FireWire 400 (1394a), was fasterthan USB when it came out. FireWire 400 is still in use today andfeatures:

Transfer rates of up to 400 Mbps Maximum distance between devices of 4.5 meters (cable length)

The release of USB 2.0 -- featuring transfer speeds up to 480 Mbps andup to 5 meters between devices -- closed the gap between thesecompeting standards. But in 2002, FireWire 800 (1394b) started showingup in consumer devices, and USB 2.0 was left in the dust. FireWire 800 iscapable of:

Transfer rates up to 800 Mbps Maximum distance between devices of 100 meters (cable length)

The faster 1394b standard is backward-compatible with 1394a.

In December 2007, the 1394 Trade Association announced that productswould be available before the end of 2008 using the S1600 and S3200
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asynchronoushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isochronoushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isochronoushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isochronoushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isochronoushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asynchronoushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isochronoushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asynchronoushttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/usb.htmhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/usb.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asynchronoushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isochronoushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asynchronoushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isochronoushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isochronoushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isochronoushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isochronoushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asynchronoushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWire


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modes that, for the most part, had already been defined in 1394b and wasfurther clarified in IEEE Std. 1394-2008.The 1.6 Gbit/s and 3.2 Gbit/sdevices use the same 9-conductor beta connectors as the existing

FireWire 800 and will be fully compatible with existing S400 and S800devices. It will compete with the forthcoming USB 3.0.

(A 9-conductor beta connector)

.:FireWire V/S USB:.

Here's a summary:

Feature USB FireWire

1.1 2.0 400 800

Datatransferrate

12 Mbps480Mbps

400Mbps

800Mbps

Number ofdevices 127 127 63 63

Plug and play Yes Yes Yes Yes

Hot-pluggable Yes Yes Yes Yes

Isochronousdevices Yes Yes Yes Yes

Bus power Yes Yes Yes Yes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_3.0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_3.0


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Busterminationrequired

No No No No

Bus type Serial Serial Serial Serial

Cable type

Twistedpair (4wires: 2power, 1twisted-pair set)

Twistedpair (4wires: 2power, 1twisted-pair set)

Twistedpair (6wires: 2power, 2twisted-pairsets)

Twistedpair (8wires: 2power, 2twisted-pair sets,2 ground)

Networkable Yes -host-based

Yes -host-based

Yes -peer-to-peer

Yes -peer-to-peer

Networktopology

Hub HubDaisychain

Daisychain

The key difference between FireWire and USB is that FireWire isintended for devices working with a lot more data -things like camcorders, DVD players and digital audio equipment. FireWire and USB share anumber of characteristics but differ in some important ways.As you can see, the two are a lot alike. Implementing FireWire costs alittle more than USB, which led to the adoption of USB as the standardfor connecting most peripherals that do not require a high-speed bus.

Speed aside, the big difference between FireWire and USB 2.0 is thatUSB 2.0 is host-based, meaning that devices must connect to a computerin order to communicate. FireWire is peer-to-peer, meaning that twoFireWire cameras can talk to each other without going through acomputer.
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/usb.htmhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/camcorder.htmhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/dvd.htmhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/dvd.htmhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/camcorder.htmhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/usb.htm


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(FireWire & USB)

.:Sending Data Via FireWire:.

FireWire uses 64-bit fixed addressing, based on the IEEE 1212standard. There are three parts to each packet of information sentby a device over FireWire:

A 10-bit bus ID that is used to determine which FireWire busthe data came from

A 6-bit physical ID that identifies which device on the bussent the data

A 48-bit storage area that is capable of addressing 256terabytes of information for each node
http://webopedia.internet.com/TERM/I/IEEE.htmlhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/bytes4.htmhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/bytes4.htmhttp://webopedia.internet.com/TERM/I/IEEE.html


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The bus ID and physical ID together comprise the 16-bit node ID,which allows for 64,000 nodes on a system. Data can be sent throughup to 16 hops (device to device). Hops occur when devices are daisy-

chained together. Look at the example below. The camcorder isconnected to the external hard drive connected to Computer A.Computer A is connected to Computer B, which in turn is connectedto Computer C. It takes four hops for Computer C to access thecamera.

Assuming all of the devices in this setup are equipped with FireWire800, the camcorder can be up to 400 meters from Computer C.

.:Benefits:.

Automobiles

IDB-1394 Customer Convenience Port (CCP) is the automotive version ofthe 1394 standard.

Wind power turbines
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/camcorder.htmhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/hard-disk.htmhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/hard-disk.htmhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com/camcorder.htm


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Audio monitoring for vibrations in the power transmission in wind drivenelectrical turbines uses a 1394 network for data gathering.

Networking over FireWire

FireWire can be used for ad-hoc (terminals only, no routers except wherea FireWire hub is used) computer networks. Specifically, RFC 2734specifies how to run IPv4 over the FireWire interface, and RFC 3146specifies how to run IPv6. The PlayStation 2 console had an i.LINK-branded 1394 connector. This was used for networking until the releaseof an Ethernet adapter late in the console's lifespan, but very fewsoftware titles supported the feature.

.:Applications:.

IIDCIIDC (Instrumentation & Industrial Digital Camera) is the FireWire data formatstandard for live video, and is used by Apple's iSight A/V camera. The systemwas designed for machine vision systems but is also used for other computervision applications and for some webcams. Although they are easily confusedsince they both run over FireWire, IIDC is different from, and incompatiblewith, the ubiquitous AV/C (Audio Video Control) used to control camcorders andother consumer video devices.

DV
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_networkhttp://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2734http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv4http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3146http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISighthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_visionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_visionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_visionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_visionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_visionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_visionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISighthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3146http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv4http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2734http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_network


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Digital Video (DV)is a standard protocol used by some digital camcorders. AllDV cameras that recorded to tape media had a FireWire interface (usually a 4-conductor). All DV ports on camcorders only operate at the slower 100 Mbit/sspeed of FireWire. This usually gives problems where the camcorder is daisy

chained off a faster device (such as a disc drive). Labeling of the port varies by manufacturer, with Sony using either its i.LINKtrademark or the letters 'DV'. Many digital video recorders have a "DV-input"FireWire connector (usually an alpha connector) which can be used to recordvideo from a directly-connected DV camcorder ("computer-free").

The protocol also allows remote control (play, rewind, etc.) of connected devicesand also streaming of the time code from a camera.

It was not possible to use a USB interface for tape based systems because thevideo was streamed from the tape at a constant rate. USB relied on processorsupport and this was not guaranteed to service the USB port in time. The recentmove away from tape towards solid state memory or disc media (e.g. SD Cards,DVD or Hard Drives), has enabled a switch to USB.

Frame grabbers

IEEE 1394 interface is commonly found in frame grabbers, devices that captureand digitize an analog video signal; however, IEEE 1394 is facing competitionfrom the Gigabit Ethernet interface (citing speed and availability issues).

.: Bibliography:.

Wikipedia.com

How Stuffs Works.com

Apple.com

Google.com/images
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocol_(computing)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camcorderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_video_recorderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabit_Ethernethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabit_Ethernethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_video_recorderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camcorderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocol_(computing)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DV


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FireWire System Architecture: IEEE 1394A (2nd

Edition)

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