Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
for the previous S800 mode, hardware and software vendors can easily take advantage of
the new mode without significant product redesigns.
Unfortunately FireWire 3200 never appeared in any PC-based devices, and has been sur-
passed by other high-performance interfaces such as eSATA, USB 3.0, and Thunderbolt
Technology.BecauseThunderboltincludesbothDisplayPortdigitalaudio/videoandPCIe
data signaling on the same cable at transfer rates of 10Gbps, it will most likely be used in
high performance digital video applications where FireWire 3200 might have once been
considered.
Comparing USB and IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
Because of the similarity in both the form and function of USB and 1394, there has been
some confusion about the two.
Table 14.7
summarizes the differences between the two
technologies.
Table 14.7 Comparing USB and IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
USB is by far the most popular external interface for PCs, eclipsing all others by com-
parison. This is primarily because Intel originally developed USB and has placed built-in
USB support in all its motherboard chipsets since 1996. Few if any motherboard chipsets
integrate1394aor1394b;ithastobeaddedasanextra-costchiponthemotherboard.The
cost of the additional 1394 circuitry (and a $0.25 royalty paid to Apple Computer per sys-
tem) and the fact that all motherboards already have USB have limited the popularity of
1394 (FireWire) in the PC marketplace as a general purpose external interface.
