IEEE 1394

Although USB has emerged as the simple plug-and-play standard for attaching peripherals, there is a faster standard called IEEE 1394.

Developed by Sony® as i.Link^TM and Apple as FireWire®, IEEE-1394 will be used in different types of high-speed multimedia equipment, such as camcorders, DVD, and digital cameras, many of which already have an IEEE-1394 interface. The standard's maximum speed is 393-Mbps with a planned future speed of 800-Mbps, which will provide throughput 10 to 30 times higher than a USB interface using isochronous transfer.

The maximum distance for IEEE-1394 is 4.5 metres per segment. The total end-to-end length must not exceed 72 metres with a maximum of 63 devices.

The connectors are 4- and 6-pin. The 6-pin version has two extra pins for power.