FireWire compliance workshop featured full range of new products and systems

OCTOBER 8--Computer and consumer industry leaders meeting at the recent 1394 Trade Association (TA; www.1394ta.org) quarterly Compliance and Interoperability Workshop in Taipei, Taiwan, successfully networked a total of 63 devices equipped with the 1394/FireWire standard--along with live streaming video--in what TA leaders called the most successful event yet. The Trade Association has now completed more than a dozen compliance/interoperability workshops on three continents in two years, using a full set of test suites designed to ensure that 1394/FireWire-equipped computer, computer, and industrial products work together.

Participants connected a total of 63 nodes over the 1394 bus, linking Apple Macintosh and Windows-based PCs, MP3 players, external hard drives, notebook PCs, a video camera, a printer, and other devices. Among the connections were new 1394b devices capable of running at 800 Mbits/s. Real-time DV video was displayed over the network using a camcorder. At the same time, several bus analyzers captured the network topology.

"Leading technology innovators from throughout the industry brought a random sample of products, some based on 1394a, and a new 1394b device that became the 63rd," said Max Bassler of Molex, vice chairman of the 1394 Trade Association. "We plugged them into the 1394 network, one after the other, and they performed as intended. Then, we added streaming live, high-quality video over the bus, while all the connected products continued to operate."

"The comprehensive test procedures our group has established are a great value for all participants," said James Snider, executive director of the 1394 Trade Association. "To achieve this level of detailed testing in a company environment would be very expensive. We expect the demand to grow rapidly now for our FireWire logo testing and for the compliance testing."