News

1394 Standard Set for Expanded Performance, Multi-Market Growth in 2006 (23/2/2006)

HANA Endorsement, 1394 Over Coax, New Product Launches Set Pace

Leaders of the 1394 Trade Association today predicted continued rapid growth of 1394-equipped products and applications across the consumer electronics, computer, industrial and automotive markets in 2006. The association said that by the end of this year more than 510 million 1394-equipped devices will have been developed and shipped worldwide, reflecting the popularity of FireWire as the optimal transport mechanism for high-quality audio, video, data, and control.

The Trade Association cited several positive developments for IEEE 1394 at the start of 2006:

-- 1394 is the audio-video standard selected by the new High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA) for its implementation guidelines, which will lead to HANA-compliant HDTV product development throughout the year;

-- Increased design-ins among storage technology leaders who require the quality-of-service and high bandwidth offered by the 1394b standard;

-- Rapid growth in the professional audio market, with several dozen new 1394-equipped products set for introduction throughout the music industry during calendar 2006. The first set of new 1394-equipped products appeared at the NAMM Conference in January;

-- 1394 is the only two-way, recordable connection mandated by the Federal Communications Commission in digital cable set-top boxes;

-- Availability of 1394 over co-axial cabling and over CAT-5 and CAT-6 cabling, which satisfies the requirements of the Cable MSOs and home networking installers;

-- Expansion in rapidly-growing vertical markets such as industrial cameras for machine vision applications, aerospace systems communications, military systems, and robotics.

"We experienced a steady increase in 1394-equipped products throughout 2005, and foresee continued expansion this year as developers demand the proven quality-of-service, high bandwidth, and peer-to-peer features that the 1394 standard delivers," said Eric Anderson, chairman of the 1394 Trade Association.

"Major consumer electronics and computer products manufacturers are expanding their support for FireWire for high end storage, A/V transport and other compelling applications. Only in low-end peripherals is 1394 not a major force," said Jalil Oraee of Oxford Semiconductor, the Trade Association's chief financial officer. "More than six million 1394-equipped external storage devices shipped in 2005, which was 40 percent of total external storage market in consumer/SOHO application. The high market share is a result of higher read/write efficiencies provided by 1394.

"These are 75 percent or higher, compared with below 50 percent efficiency for interfaces like USB 2.0. The 1394b version of FireWire provides the best performance by far for external storage." Oraee added that the SerialATA transition in internal drives provides data rates of up to 60 Mbytes/s, making 1394b the only viable external interface for consumer desktop storage applications, leading to all main players announcing 1394b versions of their products. "The storage market is keenly awaiting higher data rates offered by 1600 Megabits/second and 3200Mbps 1394b devices, which are planned for this year and for 2007," he added.

"We expect a very good year for 1394 across all of the markets we serve," said Zeph Freeman, the 1394 Trade Association board representative from Texas Instruments, Inc. "It remains the essential interface for digital video, and is rapidly being adopted in audio, industrial and many other applications. We especially expect to see stronger adoption in 1394b."

The decision by the HANA to use 1394 as its transport was based on the core benefits of 1394, including the quality of service required for reliable audio-video transport and the high throughout required for HDTV. "The leaders of HANA have adopted a 'one cable, one remote' model, and they are attracted to 1394 because any device can be added simply by using a single FireWire cable," said James Snider, executive director of the 1394 Trade Association. "1394 was designed to deliver the exacting performance required for High Definition TV. As a result, 1394 meets the requirements of this industry today with a graceful migration path that will keep 1394 ahead of industry requirements well into the future."

Snider added that the Federal Communications Commission mandate that FireWire be incorporated into digital set top boxes means the new generation of digital televisions will benefit by including 1394. This will boost design-ins in 2006.

Strong Prospects in Audio

Snider also cited prospects for growth in the professional audio industry. "In pro audio, the 1394 standard has become central in several applications including networking, studios, performing, and post-production environments," he said. "This $13 billion industry is moving rapidly from analog to digital and 1394 is playing an increasing role."

More than a dozen new 1394-equipped audio products were introduced at the annual International Music Products Association show in Anaheim in January, and product development roadmaps include significant new 1394 adoption from companies such as Denon, TC Group, Focusrite, PreSonus, ESI, Pioneer and Yamaha.

Rapid Growth in Industrial Cameras for Vision Systems

A growing number of large multinational suppliers are using 1394b in vision systems, including Sony Corporation, which now provide color and monochrome cameras; Toshiba Teli; and Hamamatsu Photonics. Also, smaller technologically innovative companies such as Point Grey Research, Basler Vision Components and Allied Vision Technologies now offer 1394b-equipped cameras, which incorporate the 800 megabits/second speeds of FireWire for downloading images to a PC for display, real-time control, and recording.

www.1394ta.org