FireWire

FireWire, also known as IEEE-1394, is a digital bus with a bandwidth of 400-800 Mbps. Up to 63 units can be connected to the same bus, and it supports PnP (plug and play). Apple developed it in 1995.

Since FireWire and USB have some similarities, FireWire can be considered similar to USB by those with experience with USB. As with USB, FireWire has a variety of devices, including removable drives and cameras.

FireWire specifications and versions

Originally released in 1995, FireWire 400 (IEEE-1394) provides data transfer speeds of 100, 200, and 400 Mbps.

Released in 2000, IEEE-1394a adds asynchronous streaming, packet concatenation, and a charge-reduced suspend mode to FireWire 400.

Data transfer rate of up to 3200 Mbps using "beta mode" or using an optical cable; released in 2002.

In June 2007, IEEE-1394c (FireWire S800T) was released, which offers a data transfer rate of 800 Mbps using the same cable as a Cat 5e.

FireWire S1600 and S3200 - Deliver a data transfer speed of 1.57 GB/s and 3.14 GB/s, respectively, and are compatible with FireWire S400 and S800 devices; announced in December 2007.

The tip

Ports labeled as i.Link are Sony's implementation of IEEE-1394.