Product category:
Communications ICs (Wired)
News Release from: Oxford Semiconductor
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 26 May 2006
Microsoft support to drive faster
FireWire
The 1394 Trade Association confirmed Microsoft Corp's plans to support 1394b, the 800Mbit/s version of the popular FireWire audio-video standard, in the upcoming release of Windows Vista.
The 1394 Trade Association confirmed Microsoft Corp's plans to support 1394b, the 800Mbit/s version of the popular FireWire audio-video standard, in the upcoming release of Windows Vista At the annual WinHEC Conference in Seattle, Microsoft announced plans to include support for the IEEE standard 1394b in Windows Vista shortly after the release of the new operating system
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 13 Dec 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Building on the existing support in Windows XP for 1394a, the 800Mbit/s transfer rates in the IEEE1394b standard (expandable to rates of 1.6 and 3.2Gbit/s) will further expand the bandwidth available in Windows for scenarios such as high-definition audio and video transfers and external storage solutions.
"This is a real endorsement from Microsoft which recognises the clear benefits of using higher-datarate FireWire as a multipurpose bus for PCs".
"There are 47 million FireWire enabled PCs shipped annually, which is roughly 10 times the number of FireWire enabled Apple MACs computers".
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A new IDE bridge board from Oxford Semiconductor provides "plug and go" evaluation of the OXUF922 bridge chip in FireWire 800 (IEEE1394b) and USB 2.0 compliant hard disk drive applications.
"PC users can now look forward to experiencing the enhanced performance offered by FireWire800, particularly in storage applications".
"The very real prospect of 1.6 and 3.2Gbit/s support for uncompressed video applications is very exciting", said Jalil Oraee, CFO of the 1394 Trade Association and CTO of Oxford Semiconductor.
"This is a major development for 1394b that will propel the FireWire standard into a new set of leading-edge PC applications", said Jack Bell, Marketing Working Group Chair of the 1394 Trade Association.
"With the emergence of high-definition audio/video distribution and storage applications in the home, we have seen dramatic increases in support and enthusiasm this year for 1394b from the leaders in the PC and CE industries".
"Microsoft's announced support will encourage significant new levels of design activity for 1394b in the PC and peripherals markets worldwide".
"We have the interest of several major PC OEMs; 1394b will be important for high-bandwidth users as an interface for external storage systems and high-definition audio/video applications on the PC", said Mark Slezak, Programme Manager of Microsoft's Windows Device Experience Group.
1394b can support real-time audio/video distribution over existing wires in the home while also supporting a multitude of other high performance computing and connectivity applications from a single interface.
It is scalable to 3.2Gbit/s.
1394b is a networking standard with the ability to support up to 45W of power over the bus, allowing users of PC and CE devices to interconnect, provide power to and communicate with over 60 devices in a daisychain network, significantly reducing the amount of bulky power and connector cables typically required to wire a home entertainment network.
1394b is currently available in a complete range of high-performance PC and storage products from the industry's leading vendors, including Apple, Intel, Seagate, Maxtor, LaCie and Western Digital Corporation, among others.
The 1394 Trade Association has estimated that by the end of 2006, more than five million 1394b-equipped Windows and MAC PCs will have been shipped.
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