Hi there,
From this link
http://www.firewirestuff.com/whatis.html i have pinched the
following. :
"Real-time" bi-directional, multi-speed data transfer for all compliant
applications (read as co-processorand multi-processor ready).
Fast Data transfer rates of 100, 200, 400 and 800 Mbits/s, today, and soon
1600 and 3200+ Mbits/s, all over copper wire and fiber optic cable.
Automatic configuration Hot Plug and Play live connection/disconnection
without interruption of other host services
Free-form Fully bi-directional network topology allowing mixed branches and
daisy-chains between peripherals and peer to peer computers and
co-processors
Chip level termination no separate line terminators required
Guaranteed bandwidth assignments for real-time applications and co-existing
performance levels
Common Connectors two types, 4-pin unpowered and 6-pin powered for all
devices and applications
A Solid Standard IEEE 1394 High Performance Serial Bus is fully iLink and
FireWire compatible.
So yes you are right with respects USB2 and order of magnitude.. I'm a bit
stumped as to why I believed its an order of magnitude (I was truly
convinced I was right at about that)...I should have checked myself. I have
also pinched this from the above site:
Applications that benefit from 1394 include nonlinear (digital) video
presentation and editing, desktop and commercial multimedia publishing,
faster document imaging, home and presentation theater multimedia and plug
and play personal desktop computing. The low overhead, high data rates of
1394, the ability to mix real-time synchronous and asynchronous data on a
single line and the ability to mix low speed and high speed devices on the
same single network connection, provides a truly universal connection for
almost any consumer or commercial peripheral application. This, backed by
the openness of being an IEEE standard, now makes 1394 the preferred choice
for a number of high speed interconnect applications in a wide variety of
markets.
Although other high performance connectivity protocols like SCSI III and USB
2.0 are available, the backward and forward compatibility, peer to peer
process sharing and future performance potential make 1394 the better
performance champion. IEEE 1394 at 400 Mbps is a significant contender for
the performance champion, bested only modestly by Ultra Wide SCSI II and
SCSI III, but with the added benefits of hot plug and play.
USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 at 480 Mbps is still the methodology of choice for
master/slave peripheral devices like the human interface (keyboards and
controllers) and to a lesser extent audio and video devices. 1394 however
would have to be the storage media interface of choice over all others
because of "real time", synchronous / asynchronous peer to peer data
transfer and future potential over wireless and fiber.
Me again, I have been told by my youngest lad (A Systems Engineer for a
rather large well known company) that there is yet another standard being
developed that will be faster again. But, reading the above It does look
that Firewire with its present potential for speeds up to 3,200 MB/s is
going to be hard to beat.
Best Wishes (and thanks for putting me right).....John Kelly
www.the-kellys.org
www.the-kellys.co.uk