>> Semiconductor Home > Products > Interface > 1394 High Performance Serial Bus >

Resources  1394 High Performance Serial BusGray Rule

> Product Summary
> Technical Overview
> 1394 Link Layer Controllers
> 1394 Physical Layer
   Controllers
> 1394 Integrated Layer devices
> 1394 Product Bulletin
   > A New World of
      Opportunities
   > The 1394 Market
   > 1394 Link Layer Devices
   > 1394 Physical Layer
      Devices
   > IEEE 1394 (FireWire™/
      i.LINK™) High-performance
      serial bus
> 1394 Development Tools
> 1394 Designer Kit Software
> Third-Party Tools
> 1394 Application Reports
> Application Report Request

News & Information
> TI Press Releases
> 1394 TImes™ Archive
> 1394 TImes™ Sign up
> 1394 Designer Kit Software
> 1394 Trade Association		   
1394 Product Bulletin
Until now, internal performance advancements have fueled the rapid growth of the personal computer market. Faster processors, more memory and better graphics have helped create an increasingly easy-to-use, visually appealing PC environment. Despite these performance improvements, many of the peripheral connections are made using the same interface technologies of older machines and are starting to limit performance and growth for future applications.

1394 ChipsThe IEEE 1394a High-Performance Serial Bus standard is radically altering this model by giving a range of end products, including peripherals, consumer electronics and telecom devices a flexible, cost-effective and seamless way to transfer data. For consumers, this is the fundamental capability that will redefine the role of their PC - from a stand-alone appliance to the heart of a seamless digital home environment populated by rich, interactive multimedia applications. 1394 is building a bridge between the consumer and computer markets, creating fully interoperable computers, computer peripherals, consumer electronics and networking environments. As the backbone of this new multimedia environment, 1394 silicon solutions from Texas Instruments are enabling the creation of new markets and new products that will meet consumer demand in the emerging interactive home environment.

Creating a New Paradigm with 1394
The IEEE-approved 1394 standard was born out of a need for a flexible and cost-effective way to share real-time (isochronous) information among data-intensive applications such as digital camcorders, digital VCRs, and digital video disks (DVD). As an all-digital interface, 1394 was first used in digital cameras to replace existing analog transmission interfaces that significantly degrade the quality of the picture.

The standard is creating a new paradigm of interactivity as PC, peripheral and consumer electronics manufacturers rush to integrate 1394's extensive capabilities. Many digital applications, including camcorders, VCRs, DVDs, cameras, set-top boxes, stereos, digital TVs, printers and hard-disk drives have already adopted 1394 as the high-performance highway to interoperability.

1394 Product Map

1394's Features

  • Real-time transmission of data
  • Small, durable, and flexiblecable and connectors
  • Seamless I/O interconnect
  • Peer-to-peer communication structure
  • Memory-mapped architecture
  • Backwards compatible speeds
  • Bus is dynamically reconfigurable and active termination is not needed
  • Hot Plugging