Quick Look: All the Benefits of Adopting FireWire

The 1394 Trade Association advocates the adoption of the IEEE 1394 Standard, known commercially as FireWire and i.LINK and referred to by the Consumer Electronics Association as DTV Link. It delivers a broad range of benefits to consumers and to CE product developers.

Excellent QoS in Real-time. IEEE 1394 is the best and most reliable technology for guaranteeing two-way real-time delivery of video and audio signals to networked consumer electronics systems, with the highest quality of service levels possible. 1394 can deliver compressed HD video across a network at up to 100 meters between devices with no risk of interruption or distortion Other technologies such as Ethernet are not designed with this level of QoS. 1394 is also very efficient. It utilizes a single cable between devices to handle audio, video, and commands for two way communication between devices. It eliminates many individual long runs of cable from a central device to peripherals by permitting many devices to be connected in local clusters, and using a single cable to connect to other local clusters. Audio and video are passed from source to destination through this chain of devices at extremely high speeds, with a minimum speed of 100 Megabits per second, and current implementations at 800 Megabits per second. 1394 enables streaming over a home network and communications over the Internet using IP. This feature is not available in competing interface technologies, like HDMI.

Digital Rights and Copy Protection. 1394 is the only technology that provides consumers with the ability to make copies of programming for their own personal use. The copy protection program developed for implementation with 1394-based products, systems, and networks is known as DTLA, or ‘5C,’ and has been developed by the industry’s leading technology companies. It preserves digital rights for the consumer without enabling unauthorized and illegal copying for commercial profit or general distribution. The only time 5C licensing rules allow copying to be prohibited is with special categories of paid programming, such as on-demand movie services or pay-per-view events. Competing technologies like the DVI/HDMI uses a ‘copy never’ content protection technology that clearly fails to support consumers’ digital rights.

Interoperability. Products and networks equipped with 1394 are moving steadily and reliably toward full interoperability. Competing networking technologies are far behind 1394 in terms of resolving interoperability challenges. As a result, IEEE 1394 is years ahead of other technologies in meeting the requirements of the home entertainment network and the consumer electronics ‘cluster,’ as part of the network.

FCC Decisions. Regulatory agencies have recognized the capabilities of 1394. In September 2002, the Federal Communications Commission mandated digital tuners in all televisions by 2007. This delivers significant benefits to consumers and should be supported by the entire industry. Also, the FCC in 2003 approved the pact between cable operators and TV manufacturers to establish ‘plug-and-play’ digital television that must supply high-definition set-top boxes with built-in IEEE 1394. This agreement also enables a measurable return on investment for manufacturers who deliver the products.

Convergence over 1394. 1394 is available today in over 200 million units of A/V, computer, and computer peripherals. No other technology is being designed into both computing and A/V products for the home. Computer products can share internet connections or files via the 1394 home network at the same time digital video from multiple source devices are being transported to multiple sink devices. As a result of 1394’s versatility, reliability and ease-of-use the product manufacturer has increased opportunities to sell equipment when networked together and when resources and user interfaces are shared.