Apple FireWire is a cross-platform of the high-speed serial data bus that can move large amounts of data between computers and peripheral devices. It features simplified cabling, hot swapping, and transfer speeds of up to 800 megabits per second. Thankfully, along came FireWire and Universal Serial Bus (USB): faster and easier to use replacements for serial and parallel ports.

A simple common plug-in serial connector on the back of your computer and on many different types of peripheral devices a thin serial cable rather than the thicker parallel cable you now use to your printer, for example

A very high-speed rate of data transfer that will accommodate multimedia applications

Hot-plug and Plug and Play capability without disrupting your computer

The ability to chain devices together in a number of different ways without terminators or complicated set-up requirements

FireWire is integrated into Power Macs, iMacs, E-Macs, Mac-Books, Mac-Book Pro, and the iPod. FireWire ports were also integrated into many other computer products dating back to the Power Macintosh G3 computers. All these machines include FireWire ports that operate at up to 400 megabits per second and the latest machines include FireWire ports that support 1394b and operate at up to 800 megabits per second.

USB 2.0 offers several benefits such as low cost, expandability, and auto-configuration, hot-plugging and outstanding performance. It also provides power to the bus, enabling many peripherals to operate without the added need for an AC power adapter. Since USB is a standard, third-party hardware is identical for all platforms; only differing in the software required for a specific OS.

Apple FireWire provide:-

A simple common plug-in serial connector on the back of your computer and on many different types of peripheral devices

A thin serial cable rather than the thicker parallel cable you now use to your printer, for example

A very high-speed rate of data transfer that will accommodate multimedia applications (100 and 200 megabits per second today; with much higher rates later)

Hot-plug and Plug and Play capability without disrupting your computer

The ability to chain devices together in a number of different ways without terminators or complicated set-up requirements

How Apple FireWire Works

There are two levels of interface in IEEE 1394, one for the backplane bus within the computer and another for the point-to-point interface between device and computer on the serial cable. A simple bridge connects the two environments. The backplane bus supports 12.5, 25, or 50 megabits per second data transfer. The cable interface supports 100, 200, or 400 megabits per second. Each of these interfaces can handle any of the possible data rates and change from one to another as needed.

The serial bus functions as though devices were in slots within the computer sharing a common memory space. A 64-bit device address allows a great deal of flexibility in configuring devices in chains and trees from a single socket.

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