on 5/10/01 12:40 PM, James Jarvie at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Can someone please explain (in simple terms) what
> Firewire is?
Hopefully I can make this simple.
Firewire is Apple's name for a connection technology that was designed to
replace SCSI. Firewire is also known as iLink (Sony's name) and IEEE 1394
(the official "standard" name).
It's designed to allow tranfers at up to 400Mb/second compared to about 12
for USB. (I *think* those numbers are correct, but this is just off the top
of my head.) It's also designed to allow communications between devices
without requiring a computer. Up to 63 devices can be attached to a Firewire
chain. (Theoretically anyway.) The devices to not have to be turned off
before plugging/unplugging the Firewire connections.
There are two types of connectors; a 4 pin and a 6 pin connector. The 6 pin
connector carries power that can be used to power some devices without
requiring a separate power cord. The 4 pin connector does not provide power.
(Sony's iLink uses the 4 pin version.)
Firewire is the basis of a relatively new specification named HAVi that is
designed to interconnection home A/V equipment such as TVs, Receivers,
MiniDisk decks (!), video cameras, etc. A computer is optional. (USB
requires everything to go through a computer.) Sony has designed a system
called LISSA that uses iLink to interconnect the components. I believe it's
based on the HAVi specification. (See <http://www.havi.org/> for more info
on the spec.)
The most common current uses for Firewire are connecting hard drives and
video cameras to computers. Hopefully other devices using Firewire will
become more common soon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Ed "What the" Heckman [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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| tomorrow where your thoughts take you. |
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