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IEEE 1394 Maximizes Performance in Notebook Computer, Storage Connectivity; 1394 Trade Association Foresees Fast Growth of 1394b Designs During 2006; FireWire800 Delivers Highest Performance for PC and Peripherals Applications

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 December 2005, 18:00 CST

IEEE 1394, the leading standard for video and audio transport, achieved record design-ins throughout the global PC and storage peripherals markets in 2005, the 1394 Trade Association reported today. In addition, the 1394b version, also known as FireWire 800, will grow significantly in the PC and storage sectors during 2006.

According to James Snider, executive director of the 1394 Trade Association, growth for the 1394a version of FireWire, with bandwidths up to 400 Megabits/second, remains steady. There also are increased design-ins for 1394b, which provides 800 Megabit/second bandwidth, and the 'b' version of the standard is being used in a new series of new external hard drives and in PC motherboards announced by industry leaders worldwide.

"The expanding design activity reflects FireWire's versatility as a multi-purpose technology," said Snider. "One of its major benefits is that it can be used for many purposes, and competes so well with single purpose interface technologies such as serial ATA."

Currently, 1394a/FireWire400 is designed into more than 65 percent of notebooks. Estimates for 2006 reach approximately 72 percent. By the end of 2006, a total of more than 48 million 1394-equipped notebooks will have shipped, including some 3 million with 1394b's 800 Megabit/second speeds. Some 11 million consumer desktop PCs will also include FireWire connection capabilities.

Most PC motherboards now provide FireWire400, and new motherboards equipped with 1394b have been announced by Intel, Gigabyte, Asustek and Foxconn during this year, Snider said. Also, leading makers of external drive and storage products are now using 1394b as a differentiator.

"FireWire is Clearly the More Efficient Protocol"

A recent series of reviews covering new computer peripherals demonstrates FireWire's superiority for applications requiring fast, reliable, high bandwidth audio and video transport. The new Western Digital WD3200JB 320 GB UltraATA hard drive, with interfaces for both USB 2.0 and 1394b, illustrates the performance advantage.

According to the October review carried by Tom's Hardware, "Firewire proves to be the clearly more efficient protocol, as it hits a transfer rate of almost 40 MB/s reading and 28 MB/s writing, while the USB 2.0 interface stays below 32 MB/s reading and 29 MB/s writing." The review can be accessed at: http://www.tomshardware.com/storage/20051014/western_digital_goes_ flashy_with_lighted_hard_drive-01.html

(Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

1394b Moves into Storage Applications

There is currently a strong demand for complex Peripheral Bridge devices, and the high-end devices that typically provide large disk, encryption and RAID all include 1394b, which is seen as an ideal solution for improving in HDD performance. While USB 2.0 demonstrates some tendency to create system bottlenecks, 1394b delivers the bandwidth to meet the maximum HDD performance and work around the challenge, Snider said.

All of the leading storage suppliers in 2005 introduced new drives that incorporate 1394b, with its transfer speeds of up to 800 Megabits/second. These include Western Digital's WD3200JD, Maxtor's OneTouch FireWire 800 edition; Seagate's combination drives, and drives from Iomega, Lacie, and GTech. "The FireWire 800 connection is the performance pacesetter among all other interfaces includes on these multi-interface storage products," Snider said.

Unlike other data transfer standards such as USB 2.0, PCI-External or external Serial ATA (eSATA), 1394b features multiple-source, real-time delivery with no 'drops' or misdeliveries under fully-loaded conditions. It also offers full networking capability using a peer-to-peer architecture in place of slower-moving master-slave configurations that require central processor intervention and additional overhead during each transaction.

The 1394b technology now falls at the mid-range price point, Snider added. "There is no significant price premium for FireWire 800. It provides far more performance, too."

For more information about the 1394 standard and the 1394 Trade Association, please visit www.1394ta.org

Source: Business Wire

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