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1394 Trade Association Creates Latest Home Entertainment Network

Posted on: Monday, 19 April 2004, 06:00 CDT

The 1394 Trade Association will feature the latest and most advanced home entertainment network, moving video and audio at up to 800 Megabits/second over CAT-5 and plastic optical fiber, at the Electronic House Expo in Orlando March 10-13. ¶ Populated with the latest in HDTV, Digital VHS, computer, storage, and audio equipment from industry leaders worldwide, the home entertainment network demo will showcase how FireWire can connect a wide range of different devices over distances up to 80 meters at significant speeds. ¶"We are focused on the 1394 standard's excellence in overcoming the challenge of linking many diverse consumer and computer devices on the network, easily and reliably," said James Snider, executive director of the 1394 Trade Association. "We are making significant strides in wired and wireless networking, and FireWire is pre-eminent in delivering audio and video in a peer-to-peer environment where every device on the network can act as a client or server."¶ In the network demo, high definition video originates in a pair of D-VHS systems provided by Mitsubishi and JVC, and is delivered over CAT-5 cabling through a master network hub developed by USTec, a leader in advanced home wiring systems. From there, it moves to a Mitsubishi HD5000 for display on a plasma or flat panel display, and to a Hewlett-Packard Media Center PC. The demonstration also includes file sharing between Sony VAIO and Media Center computers, as well as a shared Internet connection between them. It also incorporates whole house audio, using a Pioneer DVD player.

¶ 1394b Hub Anchors the Network

¶ At the center of the demo is USTec's TP-FH4 FireWire five-port 1394b hub. It is designed to connect four 1394b wall plates using CAT-5 or better cables. The wall plates are powered via the CAT-5 from the hub. The fifth hub port is a bilingual jack used to connect to 1394-enabled equipment located in the cabinet, or to connect two TP-FH4 hubs together to work as an eight-port system.

¶ POF Added to Network Demo, Delivered by Firecomms Corp.

¶ For the first time, Plastic Optical Fiber has been added to the home entertainment network demonstration, illustrating how easy it is to install and use. Fibers are inserted into basic 1394 connectors, then snapped into place. ¶ POF can carry over 250Mbps over 50 meters, and is much smaller and lighter than copper cabling POF also is not subject to noise from radiated emissions (EMI). ¶ The 1394 Trade Association is a worldwide organization dedicated to the enhancement and advancement of the 1394/FireWire standard. For more information and a complete list of all products with IEEE 1394, visit www.1394ta.org.

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