High Performance Serial Bus
1394
FireWire
IEEE 1394

    (Or "IEEE 1394", "FireWire", "I-Link") A
   1995 Macintosh/IBM PC serial bus interface standard
   offering high-speed communications and isochronous
   real-time data services.

   1394 can transfer data between a computer and its
   peripherals at 100, 200, or 400 Mbps, with a planed
   increase to 2 Gbps.  Cable length is limited to 4.5 m but up
   to 16 cables can be daisy-chained yielding a total length of
   72 m.

   It can daisy-chain together up to 63 peripherals in a
   tree-like structure (as opposed to SCSI's linear structure).
   It allows peer-to-peer device communication, such as
   communication between a scanner and a printer, to take
   place without using system memory or the CPU.  It is
   designed to support plug-and-play and hot swapping.  Its
   six-wire cable is not only more convenient than SCSI cables
   but can supply up to 60 watts of power, allowing
   low-consumption devices to operate without a separate power
   cord.

   Some expensive camcorders have included this bus since Autumn
   1995.  It is expected to be used to carry SCSI, with
   possible application to home automation using repeaters.

   See also Universal Serial Bus, FC-AL.

   (2000-09-03)