New Version of "FireWire" IEEE 1394 Standard Approved

[Chris Hurd]

(This is a press release: http://standards.ieee.org/announcements/ieee1394.html)

Latest Document Incorporates More Than 100 Updates and Enhancements

PISCATAWAY, N.J., USA, 29 July 2008 -- IEEE has approved IEEE 1394™, "Standard for High Performance Serial Bus." The revised specification combines and incorporates all previous IEEE 1394 standards developed since 1994.

Commercially known under the brand names of FireWire™ and i.LINK™, the IEEE 1394™ standard provides specifications for a high-speed serial bus which supports both asynchronous and isochronous communication and integrates well with most IEEE standard 32-bit and 64-bit parallel buses. More than 500 million IEEE 1394 ports have been produced since the standard was first published in 1995.

"The new standard includes all of the amendments, enhancements and more than 100 errata which have been added to the base standard over the last 12 years," said Les Baxter, chair of the working group which developed the standard. "This update provides developers with a single document they can rely upon for all of their application needs."

The 1394-2008 standard updates and revises all prior 1394 standards, including 1394a™, 1394b™, 1394c™, enhanced UTP, and the 1394 beta plus PHY-Link interface. It also incorporates the complete specifications for S1600 (1.6 Gigabit/second bandwidth) and for S3200, which provides 3.2 Gigabit/second speeds.

The standard is expected to be available this October.

About the IEEE Standards Association
The IEEE Standards Association, a globally recognized standards-setting body, develops consensus standards through an open process that brings diverse parts of industry together. These standards set specifications and procedures based on current scientific and technological consensus. The IEEE-SA has a portfolio of over 870 active standards and more than 400 standards under development. For information on IEEE-SA visit the Standards Association website.

About IEEE
IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional society. Through its more than 375,000 members in 160 countries, the organization is a leading authority on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics. Dedicated to the advancement of technology, IEEE publishes 30 percent of the world’s literature in the electrical and electronics engineering and computer science fields, and has developed nearly 900 active industry standards. The organization annually sponsors more than 850 conferences worldwide. Additional information about IEEE can be found on the IEEE website at http://www.ieee.org/.

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[Chris Hurd]

Just in time to compete(?) with the forthcoming USB3.0 spec, which is 4.8GB/s.

[Colin McDonald]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

Just in time to compete(?) with the forthcoming USB3.0 spec, which is 4.8GB/s.

I wonder how the actual sustained transfer rates will compare.

[Paul Cascio]

Now all they have to do is improve the POS 4-wire plug.

[Alastair Brown]

How does eSATA compare?

[Richard Alvarez]

What are the immediate implications of this development?

[Mark Sasahara]

Will it make my teeth whiter?

[Dean Sensui]

Originally Posted by Mark Sasahara

Will it make my teeth whiter?

Don't be silly.

It's supposed to make you handsome and smarter.

[Christopher Ruffell]

I see what you did there.

Originally Posted by Dean Sensui

Don't be silly.

It's supposed to make you handsome and smarter.