1394 Trade Association Creates Latest Home Entertainment Network

19-Mar-04

The 1394 Trade Association featured the latest and most advanced home entertainment network, moving video and audio at up to 800 Megabits/second over CAT-5 and plastic optical fiber, recently at the Electronic House Expo in Orlando, Florida from March 10-13, 2004. Populated with the latest in HDTV, Digital VHS, computer, storage, and audio equipment from industry leaders worldwide, the home entertainment network demo showcased how FireWire can connect a wide range of different devices over distances up to 80 meters at significant speeds. ìWe are focused on the 1394 standard's excellence in overcoming the challenge of linking many diverse consumer and computer devices on the network, easily and reliably,î said James Snider, Executive Director of the 1394 Trade Association. ìWe are making significant strides in wired and wireless networking, and FireWire is pre-eminent in delivering audio and video in a peer-to-peer environment where every device on the network can act as a client or server.î In the network demo, high-definition video originated in a pair of D-VHS systems provided by Mitsubishi and JVC, and was delivered over CAT-5 cabling through a master network hub developed by USTec, a leader in advanced home wiring systems. From there, it moved to a Mitsubishi HD5000 for display on a plasma or flat panel display, and then to a Hewlett-Packard Media Center PC. The demonstration also included file sharing between Sony VAIO and Media Center computers, as well as a shared Internet connection between them. It also incorporated whole house audio using a Pioneer DVD player. At the center of the demo was USTecís TP-FH4 FireWire five-port 1394b hub. It is designed to connect four 1394b wall plates using CAT-5 or better cables. The wall plates were powered via the CAT-5 from the hub. The fifth hub port is a bilingual jack used to connect to 1394-enabled equipment located in the cabinet, or to connect two TP-FH4 hubs together to work as an eight-port system. For the first time, Plastic Optical Fiber had been added to the home entertainment network demonstration, illustrating how easy it is to install and use. The fibers were then inserted into basic 1394 connectors, then snapped into place. POF can carry over 250Mbps over 50 meters, and is much smaller and lighter than copper cabling POF also is not subject to noise from radiated emissions (EMI). For more information and a complete list of all products with IEEE 1394, please visit www.1394ta.org. 

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