IEEE 1394 Interface
Hard Drive Recovery - IEEE 1394 Interface
The IEEE 1394 is a serial bus interface standard used in high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. IEEE 1394 has been adopted as the High Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA) standard connection interface for audio/visual component communication and control.
IEEE 1394 is also known by different brand names developed by different companies. They are FireWire (Apple Inc.), i.LINK (Sony), and Lynx (Texas Instruments). Compared to parallel SCSI, IEEE 1394 incurs lower implementation costs. It also uses simplified and more adaptable cabling systems. Hence this interface is used instead of SCSI in many applications.
FireWire is the IEEE 1394 High Speed Serial Bus initiated by Apple and developed by the IEEE P1394 Working Group. FireWire was invented as a serial replacement for the parallel SCSI bus while also providing connectivity for digital audio and video equipment.
i.LINK from Sony used a smaller connector but with only four signal circuits. It did not contain the two circuits which provide power to the device in favor of a separate power connector. This system is commonly used for connection of data storage devices and digital video cameras. It is also popular in industrial systems for machine vision and professional audio systems.
Compared to common USB, IEEE 1394 offers higher effective speed and power distribution capabilities. It also does not require a computer host. It makes full use of all SCSI capabilities and has high sustained data transfer rates. These features make them ideal for audio and video editing.
Apple is planning future versions of FireWire with speed up to 6.4 Gbit/s and additional connectors such as the small multimedia interface.
