IEEE 1394 Product Development Accelerating

800 Megabit-Per-Second Silicon To Be Available In Early 2000The chairman of the 1394 Trade Association said worldwide product development based on the 1394 multimedia standard is accelerating rapidly, and that upcoming speed and bandwidth enhancements mean the standard will remain preeminent in all markets.TA Chairman James Snider said this week that leading consumer and computer product developers worldwide are delivering a steady stream of 1394-based products ranging from PCs to printers to scanners and digital cameras, using 400 Megabit/second silicon. He noted that 90 percent of new camcorders to be released in Japan next year will include the 1394 standard, and by the end of next year at least one third of all new PCs will be equipped with 1394.Snider also predicted 800 Megabit/second silicon will be in production by the spring of 2000, further accelerating product development and demonstrating the long-term leadership of 1394 for multimedia design. The 1394b Working Group, meeting this week in France, sent the standard to ballot, so the heavy lifting is over. Higher speed and bandwidth will be supplied under the 1394b standard.""Things look terrific worldwide,"" Snider said. ""I have been in Japan, Taiwan and throughout the U.S. in the past quarter and there is a significant acceleration in 1394 design activity now. The benefits of 1394 are clear and developers are taking advantage of it. New printers from companies like Epson, along with scanners from UMAX and mass storage from Fujitsu have set a new pace in peripheral design, and we expect more products like these. Mid-priced scanners and printers will show up by mid-2000 along with desk top cameras from 10 different companies.""""The new Apple computers, including the recently announced iMac, are some of the industry's most dynamic developments of 1999, and we will see more 1394-equipped PCs in the market very soon,"" he added.1394 To Maintain Performance Lead As p1394b EmergesSnider stated that recent promises about Universal Serial Bus enhancements will take several years to achieve, and are only a first step in a lengthy development process. He predicted that 1394 will maintain its performance and ease of use leadership over other alternatives.""Improvements to a specification which needs them are certainly welcomed,"" he said. ""But a draft specification represent only the first step. It takes up to two years from initial silicon to complete hardware debug. Then, it takes another 10 to 12 months, at the minimum, for software development and debug. With the original USB specification, this process required four years. I can not imagine that ramping from 12 Megabits to 120 Megabits is going happen any sooner. Faster speeds will take even longer."" Snider said evidence of 1394's ascendancy comes from across the consumer and computer industries. ""1998 was the year when we saw significant numbers on 1394 camcorders, 1999 was the year for PCs and 2000 will be the big year for 1394 enabled peripherals. 1394 hits critical mass in the PC and peripheral industry two years before USB 2.0 is ready for prime time.""In addition, the decision by 1394 technology leaders to cap the patent fee at just 25 cents per end product has erased concerns about potential infringement issues. ""Companies are freed to go develop products without fear of any per port charge,"" he said.About The 1394 Trade AssociationThe 1394 Trade Association includes more than 160 companies from around the world that support the development and proliferation of the IEEE 1394 multimedia standard.

For more information, please contact the TA office at 408 748 9419 or visit the Trade Association Web sites at www.1394ta.org or www.1394showcase.com.