FireWire, or IEEE 1394, is an interface standard that was created by Apple in the 1990s. It is a standard for a serial bus connection that allows transfer of data across devices in real time at a very high speed. It is compatible for use with several peripheral devices and gadgets such as external hard drives, video cameras, scanners, as well as printers. The name FireWire was given to IEEE 1394 by Apple, although this interface has been recognized by other names by other companies such as i.Link by Sony and Lynx by Texas Instruments.
FireWire is hot swappable, meaning that the computer and the devices that the cable is being used to connect can be removed or attached without having to shut either of the links down. It is also plug and play, meaning that if you are about to attach a brand new device or gadget to your computer using this standard, the operating system will detect it automatically and ask for the driver, or simply run it if it has already been installed. At a maximum, the distance between the two connected devices can be up to 4.5 meters, which is the length of the cable.
It is also possible to conduct peer to peer device communication using this cable, meaning you do not need access to a computer memory in order to link two peripheral devices. It is capable of providing both, asynchronous as well as iso synchronous data transfer.
Following are the various types of FireWire IP cores that have been released and are used across the world for various purposes and in various settings:
FireWire 400
The IEEE 1394, also referred to as FireWire 400, is the original invention that was initially released in 1995 by Apple. It is capable of accommodating for data transfer speeds ranging from 100 to up to 400 Mbps.
IEEE 1394a
This was the first upgrade that was made to the original FireWire standard. Released five years after the first one, the IEEE 1394a was capable of supporting asynchronous streaming, packet concatenation, as well as had a suspend mode so as to enable it to reduce its power consumption.
FireWire 800
The FireWire 800, also known as the IEEE 1394b, amped up the performance by bringing the data transfer speed upto 3200 Mbps by employing the use of an optical cable or the beta mode.
FireWire S800T
The FireWire S800T, or the IEEE 1394c, is an improvement over the previous version which was the 800 in the sense that it uses a Cat 5e cable.
FireWire S1600
Performing data transfer at a rapid speed of 1.57 Mbps, the Firewire S1600 is compatible with FireWire S400 devices and is often used for connections needing fast data transmission speeds.
FireWire S3200
The FireWire S3200 was designed to perform high speed data transfer as well, capable of transmitting data at a speed of upto 3.14 Mbps. it is compatible with Firewire S800 devices.
