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| EMagazine Volume 4 Issue 6 December 1999 |
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 USB 2.0 will undoubtedly be a success on the PC platform. However, without complementary IEEE 1394 interfaces the PC will be isolated from the multimedia possibilities that broadband and digital TV broadcasts will bring. A paradigm shift is occurring within the home and the PC needs to be a bigger part of it. |
Navin Sabharwal Navin Sabharwal is a Senior Analyst with Allied Business Intelligence, covering residential technologies. His latest report is titled “Residential Gateways: Enabling Services Into The Home.” |
Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE 1394 (aka FireWire) are both bus interfaces that will have a profound, enabling impact on the development of data and video home networks. It was initially envisaged that they would complement one another and serve different needs. Yet with everyday it becomes more apparent that they are being positioned competitively, given the overlap in certain markets. IEEE 1394 advocates are particular bitter at Intel for not actively supporting IEEE 1394 on its motherboards.
What Is The Difference?
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- 1.5 Mbps speed for low-throughput peripherals
- 12 Mbps speed for high-throughput peripherals
- Requires the PC to act as a hub
- Can network 127 devices
- Cheap to implement
- Available on all new PCs
- Widely supported by PC peripheral manufacturers
IEEE 1394-1995:
- 400 Mbps speed
- Peer-to-peer connectivity possible
- Can network 63 devices
- Optimized for real-time multimedia transfers
- More expensive to implement
- Available on new high-end consumer electronics (e.g. camcorders)
- Available only on PCs from Sony, Apple and Compaq
- Very limited support from PC peripheral manufacturers
- Will begin to appear on digital set-top boxes, digital TV sets and game consoles
Intel’s Influence
Intel has a strong impact on the prospects for IEEE 1394. By supporting the interface on the motherboard Intel could make IEEE 1394 almost ubiquitous on PCs. It would also signal to peripheral manufacturers that their products should include variations with IEEE 1394 interfaces.
Intel initially removed its support for IEEE 1394 shortly after Apple announced that it would charge royalty fees of $1 per port for IEEE 1394 implementation. Since then Apple has backed away from those plans. The current status is a 25 cents royalty charge per system. Furthermore, this royalty accrues to a pool of seven companies with IEEE 1394 intellectual property. Intel’s name was conspicuously missing from the list of companies whose IEEE 1394-related patents are managed by the newly formed 1394 LA group.
Instead, Intel is aggressively sponsoring plans to increase the speed of USB. Initially it appeared that USB 2.0 would reach speeds between 240-360 Mbps. After preliminary testing the USB 2.0 specification has been targeted to reach 480 Mbps. This will allow USB to handle transfers that were previously in the realm of IEEE 1394. With the delivery of USB 2.0 in late 2000 PC OEMs and peripheral manufacturers will have less incentive to implement IEEE 1394 ports.
Nevertheless, USB 2.0 is likely to retain two shortcomings. First, it will still require a hub architecture and so will inherently be tied to a PC. Second, it may not be fully optimized for real-time multimedia given the poor implementation of prioritization in the existing USB specification. In the meantime the development of IEEE 1394 is not standing still. A revised IEEE 1394 will reach 800 Mbps in the first half of next year. Thus IEEE 1394 will retain the speed throne for the foreseeable future.
Impact on Home Networks
It is likely that networking PCs to peripherals will remain very much a USB function. Also without IEEE 1394 interfaces the PC will not be able to interface with the new generation of multimedia digital devices that are arriving (or in development) that will implement IEEE 1394 as standard.
IEEE 1394 was designed to be not only a bus interconnect between digital devices, but also between consumer electronics and the PC. If computer OEMs outside of Apple, Sony and Compaq follow Intel’s snub this will only serve to isolate the PC from multimedia-centric devices in the home. In North America alone Allied Business Intelligence estimates that there will be an installed base of 113 million digital set-top boxes by the end of 2004.
Intel has made great play of promoting so-called “Easy PC Initiative” designs that do away with legacy interfaces and allow the PC to take on non-traditional designs. Without support for IEEE 1394 these efforts ring hollow. While Intel can influence developments on the PC platform it has little control on consumer electronics development. Sony and other consumer electronics manufacturers have made IEEE 1394 the centerpiece enabler of not only their networked “digital living room” strategy, but also their home networking strategy. This is witnessed by the development of HAVi, which not only provides a device “middleware” solution for IEEE 1394 networks, but also interfaces with Jini networks.
USB 2.0 will undoubtedly be a success on the PC platform. However, without complementary IEEE 1394 interfaces the PC will be isolated from the multimedia possibilities that broadband and digital TV broadcasts will bring. A paradigm shift is occurring within the home and the PC needs to be a bigger part of it.
Allied Business Intelligence, Inc. is an Oyster Bay, NY-based technology research think-tank specializing in communications and emerging technology markets. ABI publishes strategic research on the broadband, wireless, electronics, automation, energy and transportation industries. Details of these studies can be found at www.alliedworld.com . Or call 516-624-3113 for more info.
