1394 Trade Association Announces FireWire 3200

SRTDodge05 · 12-17-2007, 12:35 PM

Dallas (TX) - The 1394 Trade Association announced today a new specification, one which will quadruple the speed of FireWire to 3.2 Gbps, or a theoretical maximum 400 MB/s transfer rate. Dubbed "S3200", the faster communication technology is fully backward compatible and builds upon the existing 1394b standard ratified in 2002. S3200 will also use the same cabling and equipment as FireWire 800, making for fast adoption and industry uptake. S3200 will begin the ratification process in January, 2008, and is expected to be ratified in February, 2008.
FireWire is an energy efficient, peer-to-peer, non-polling, continuous data communication protocol allowing for up to 97% of transmitted data to be a user-defined data payload, and not communications protocol overhead. FireWire 800 products today deliver 90 MB/s of sustainable throughput. With the anticipated 3% overhead, FireWire 3200 could deliver nearly 390 MB/s of usable data bandwidth, though a straight-forward 400% increase would be 360 MB/s. That is enough to drive full 1920 x 1200 HDTV signals at up to 50 fps.

1394 Trade Association Announces FireWire 3200 | Tom's Hardware

**k0NG0** · 12-17-2007, 12:44 PM

For external storage I'd take FireWire over USB 8 days a week.

1. eSATA
2. FireWire

7. USB

SRTDodge05 · 12-17-2007, 03:12 PM

I never really messed with firewire at all, its been usb for everything for me. I had a giga-byte board back in the day for my amd system that had firewire A and B on it.

**ctal** · 12-17-2007, 04:50 PM

Firewire is a necessity for doing video editing, at least in the Digital Video (DV) format, because USB is not designed to continuously maintain a minimum transfer rate adequate to support real-time i/o (to or from camcorders and digital tape decks). In other words, the usb protocol periodically causes the transfer rate to briefly drop below this threshold, which would cause dropped frames in the transfer. That is why mini-dv camcorders, and camcorders using low-end professional formats, have firewire interfaces.

Firewire 400 (not to mention 800) will also provide faster real-world file transfers than will usb2, even though it has a lower theoretical peak bps (400 instead of 480). I am not sure, though, that Microsoft has ever released driver support in Windows for fw800.

Regards,
-- Al

XJ. · 12-17-2007, 06:45 PM

I think the 1394 Trade Association is a bit late with FW3200 (as far as PCs go), despite it's technical merits.

SRTDodge05 · 12-17-2007, 07:30 PM

Have to see how it does with the new USB 3.0

**k0NG0** · 12-17-2007, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XJ.

I think the 1394 Trade Association is a bit late with FW3200 (as far as PCs go), despite it's technical merits.

Sadly, I'd have to agree. It'll be useful for a small set of devices only.

I don't really know why USB became ubiquitous and FireWire not. I suppose it may have something to do with license fees. Or Intel went with USB and that was that. And in a way it's great that one plug can be used for pretty much everything. Even if it's technologically inferior when it comes to transfer of large chunks of data. USB3 + eSATA should cover things nicely.

bajo · 12-17-2007, 08:31 PM

Lovin' eSATA for my laptop..!

**ctal** · 12-17-2007, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k0NG0

I don't really know why USB became ubiquitous and FireWire not. I suppose it may have something to do with license fees.

Yes, that's exactly right. I recall reading that Apple, as the inventor of firewire, wanted royalties per port that were way higher than Intel was willing to accept.

-- Al

traveler · 12-17-2007, 11:39 PM

I have always had better experiences with FireWire than with USB.

For example, my external drives which have both FireWire and USB provide some automatic functions under FireWire that are not there when using the USB connection. No where are those functions documented.

**Sandog** · 12-18-2007, 01:13 PM

eSATA rocks for external HD's. I am planning to get a nice external desktop drive someday soon.

**k0NG0** · 12-18-2007, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sandog

eSATA rocks for external HD's. I am planning to get a nice external desktop drive someday soon.

I really hope they come up with an integrated optical/electrical connector for SATA 3.0 or what they'll call it. Though I fear it's not possible to make such a thing backwards compatible. The concept of cables in the tens of feet for eSATA is one step closer to my dreams of decentralizing the personal computer.

*johnrr6* · 12-19-2007, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k0NG0

I really hope they come up with an integrated optical/electrical connector for SATA 3.0 or what they'll call it. Though I fear it's not possible to make such a thing backwards compatible. The concept of cables in the tens of feet for eSATA is one step closer to my dreams of decentralizing the personal computer.

My Abit QuadGT board has 2 eSATA ports.....

What is the cable length limit of current eSATA????

Have an idea for a "project"

**k0NG0** · 12-19-2007, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnrr6

My Abit QuadGT board has 2 eSATA ports.....

What is the cable length limit of current eSATA????

Have an idea for a "project"

I don't think you can find many over 5', if that.

*johnrr6* · 12-19-2007, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k0NG0

I don't think you can find many over 5', if that.

Only 5 feet!!

Well----that pretty much kills my idea.....(remote Raid array in a different location)

12-17-2007, 12:35 PM	#1
SRTDodge05 Grab Life By The Balls Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Michigan Posts: 7,835	1394 Trade Association Announces FireWire 3200 Dallas (TX) - The 1394 Trade Association announced today a new specification, one which will quadruple the speed of FireWire to 3.2 Gbps, or a theoretical maximum 400 MB/s transfer rate. Dubbed "S3200", the faster communication technology is fully backward compatible and builds upon the existing 1394b standard ratified in 2002. S3200 will also use the same cabling and equipment as FireWire 800, making for fast adoption and industry uptake. S3200 will begin the ratification process in January, 2008, and is expected to be ratified in February, 2008. FireWire is an energy efficient, peer-to-peer, non-polling, continuous data communication protocol allowing for up to 97% of transmitted data to be a user-defined data payload, and not communications protocol overhead. FireWire 800 products today deliver 90 MB/s of sustainable throughput. With the anticipated 3% overhead, FireWire 3200 could deliver nearly 390 MB/s of usable data bandwidth, though a straight-forward 400% increase would be 360 MB/s. That is enough to drive full 1920 x 1200 HDTV signals at up to 50 fps. 1394 Trade Association Announces FireWire 3200 \| Tom's Hardware
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12-17-2007, 12:44 PM	#2
k0NG0 Remembering TQ Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Sweden Posts: 13,750	Re: 1394 Trade Association Announces FireWire 3200 For external storage I'd take FireWire over USB 8 days a week. 1. eSATA 2. FireWire 7. USB __________________ Use Firefox - "the one that blocks all the schmutz" Feeling multicore elation? Remember this correlation: Amdahl's Law.
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12-17-2007, 03:12 PM	#3
SRTDodge05 Grab Life By The Balls Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Michigan Posts: 7,835	Re: 1394 Trade Association Announces FireWire 3200 I never really messed with firewire at all, its been usb for everything for me. I had a giga-byte board back in the day for my amd system that had firewire A and B on it.
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12-17-2007, 04:50 PM	#4
ctal Eschews Obfuscation Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Connecticut, USA Posts: 1,903	Re: 1394 Trade Association Announces FireWire 3200 Firewire is a necessity for doing video editing, at least in the Digital Video (DV) format, because USB is not designed to continuously maintain a minimum transfer rate adequate to support real-time i/o (to or from camcorders and digital tape decks). In other words, the usb protocol periodically causes the transfer rate to briefly drop below this threshold, which would cause dropped frames in the transfer. That is why mini-dv camcorders, and camcorders using low-end professional formats, have firewire interfaces. Firewire 400 (not to mention 800) will also provide faster real-world file transfers than will usb2, even though it has a lower theoretical peak bps (400 instead of 480). I am not sure, though, that Microsoft has ever released driver support in Windows for fw800. Regards, -- Al Last edited by ctal; 12-17-2007 at 08:56 PM.. Reason: Fixed typo
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12-17-2007, 06:45 PM	#5
XJ. Back at the Zone! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: NH, USA Posts: 6,365	Re: 1394 Trade Association Announces FireWire 3200 I think the 1394 Trade Association is a bit late with FW3200 (as far as PCs go), despite it's technical merits.
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12-17-2007, 07:30 PM	#6
SRTDodge05 Grab Life By The Balls Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Michigan Posts: 7,835	Re: 1394 Trade Association Announces FireWire 3200 Have to see how it does with the new USB 3.0
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12-17-2007, 08:31 PM	#8
bajo C1eaner Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: TX, USA Posts: 17,254	Re: 1394 Trade Association Announces FireWire 3200 Lovin' eSATA for my laptop..! __________________ USA "I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them." Duke (The Shootist) Gigabyte_AGP_LGA775, PentiumD960_dual core 3.6GHz, SapphireHD3850_AGP512MB_DDR2, WD RaptorX 150GB SATA_clearTop_16MB + Seagate 1TB SATA_32MB, CorsairDominator 2GB 8500_1066MHz, Dell 24" 2408WFP *AGP +DVIx2 +HDMI +DisplayPort +USB2x4, XPproSP3 Inspiron9400 17"uxga CentrinoC2duoT7600_2.39GHz_685MHz 4GB Micron6400@800_675_400MHz GeForceGo7900GSMobileForce_M6Enhanced_256MB 2x500GbSATA_7200rpm_16MBcache Vista hp, VistaP6002_SP2
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12-17-2007, 11:39 PM	#10
traveler Where to next? Join Date: May 2001 Location: South Florida Posts: 18,491	I have always had better experiences with FireWire than with USB. For example, my external drives which have both FireWire and USB provide some automatic functions under FireWire that are not there when using the USB connection. No where are those functions documented.
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12-18-2007, 01:13 PM	#11
Sandog Moderator Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 6,688	Re: 1394 Trade Association Announces FireWire 3200 eSATA rocks for external HD's. I am planning to get a nice external desktop drive someday soon.
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