FireWire Working To Improve Its Speed
1394 Trade Association announced that it would be instilling its new S32 specification – which will work by using the existing cables and connectors that are already in use for FireWire 800 products to work towards a better transition into higher speeds.
FireWire’s data transfer will be reaching 3.2 gigabits per second – which is higher than their normal 90 megabytes per second. 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. The best hard drives with FireWire 800 can move data almost three times as fast as the best hard drives with USB 2.0, claimed the standards body.
S3200 will also enhance FireWire’s 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. 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. S3200 lets FireWire move even uncompressed HD signals over long distances at much lower cost than systems 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.”