Symwave, Inc., a privately-held supplier of high-performance analog/mixed signal semiconductor solutions for personal computer, consumer and mobile devices, announced today that it is demonstrating the world’s first IEEE 1394b S1600 Physical Layer (PHY) solution. The new device is backwards compatible with all prior generations of FireWire/1394, and is offered at an equivalent price to today’s 800Mbps solutions with twice the speed.
Symwave’s “FirePHY-1600” PHY solution is the latest product based on Symwave’s state-of-the-art, high speed SERDES technology, a critical core competency required for most next-generation connectivity standards, including the proposed USB3.0 standard. The FirePHY-1600 runs at 2GHz clock speed and is designed to comply with the IEEE 1394b S1600 standard enabling data transfer rates up to 1.6Gbps, nearly four times faster than the highest speed USB standard today.
“Symwave is proud to help drive the accelerated migration to the next speed level of 1394b/FireWire technology for both consumer and industrial applications,” said Yossi Cohen,
President and CEO of Symwave, in the press release. “The FirePHY-1600 is a significant leap forward for us in ultra-high speed SERDES design and is a remarkable achievement for our mixed-signal engineering team. This ‘no-compromise’ solution offers our customers the ultimate combination of speed, cost and backwards compatibility.”
FirePHY-1600 is an ideal interface technology for next generation Mac and PC platforms, computer peripheral devices and prosumer applications that demand a high speed interface with guaranteed bandwidth and quality of service. Target applications include Mac and PC interface ports, PC add-in cards and ExpressCards, external storage devices/enclosures, high definition industrial cameras, FireWire hubs/repeaters and high speed Flash card readers. Some unique advantages of FireWire over other high speed serial interfaces include the ability to support 45W power over 1394 cables, peer-to-peer networking and long distance networking over CAT-5, POF and Coax cables.
“We are thrilled that Symwave is introducing the world’s first S1600 silicon solution today,” said James Snider, executive director of the 1394 Trade Association, in the press release. “Symwave’s innovative S1600 technology paves the way for a new breed of high speed applications and firmly establishes IEEE1394 (FireWire) as the interface technology of choice for next-generation products.”
Source: Symwave, Inc.
I don’t feel too good about “mixed signals” when it comes to data transfer.
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I thought that Apple had this speed and 3.2 GB working in the lab quite awhile back.
“They’ve gone to plaid!”
Just my $0.02
@Ray
Nah, they have only hit Ludicrous speed. Plaid is still a ways-off I’m afraid.
Apple seems to have all but given up on FW. If they don’t want to push the technology someone else should. TC with USB 2? USB 2 blows.
Hey, it just occurred to me! It just occurred to me that we finally have a story that pertains to my username!
WooHoo!
I agree with Jey. USB2 pales in comparison to Firewire. I wish Apple would push it more.
I agree with IEEE1394. We finally have a story that relates to his username.
Now we gotta hook me up…
@ pastrychef
You’re tellin’ me!
@oh no my shorts
Only if your are Kylie Minogue:
http://www.thevioletroom.co.uk/popup_image.php?pID=393&osCsid=75d88c727cef5ac1ec60141dbc95702a
@Jey Yes they’ve given up on it .. I mean it’s only on all machines except the Air. Sure sign they are giving it up.
@fIEEE1394®
It just occurred to me it just occurred to me that your story on IEEE1394 is twice as long as it should be.
Kidding…..
great now when they change iPods back to firewire, i’ll be able to use all my old cables, docks, chargers, accessories, etc, etc, etc, etc,
[removed]void(0);
When will Ray ever figure out how to type a ¢??
FireWire is for tools… Macs that is.
USB 2 is for toys… keyboards, mice, thumb drives.
When will Apple UP FireWire to this or even 3.2? Sooon, I hope!
FW400 was king of the hill for a long time and rightfully so. But USB 2.0 works just as well and is the standard now. Everyone including Apple knows this.
Unless there are some major launch flaws with USB 3.0, it will continue on as the standard and FW will continue to die.
‘We are thrilled’ ….
So sick of hearing that fakey, bullshit line. PR departments, cut the crap.
Backing up 250 GB of data with Firewire 800 is slow. Backing it up with Firewire 400 is twice as slow and backing it up with USB 2.0 is even slower. SO, Apple should at least start including Firewire 1600 in their Mac Pro line. Just an opinion.
I think my original iPod was Firewire too..wasn’t it….I love firewire….super speedy….
MPC Guy said “FW400 was king of the hill for a long time and rightfully so. But USB 2.0 works just as well and is the standard now.“.
And it’s mostly true. While many Macs have FW800 on them, that represents less than 10% of the consumer market and a vaguely possible 1% of the Enterprise market. Add in the FW800-equipped PCs and those numbers might be correct. Apple could beat up the PC makers about FW400 because there was no USB choice, USB2 may be a poor match for FW800, but it matches FW400, or close enough, and that’s “good enough”.
The question now is, “is it?”. Is FW800 “good enough”? While there will always be those willing to at least SAY they would pay for XX-next-gen, what’s the real savings here? What size files are you running to an external device?
Jim,
I remember buying a PCI FireWire card back in the day for the sole purpose of plugging our family’s brand new iPod into our aging HP Pavilion. Good times!
s3200 is twice as fast:
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/35302/113/
Large w/fries answered my question while I was typing it. “Backing up 250 GB of data with Firewire 800 is slow. Backing it up with Firewire 400 is twice as slow and backing it up with USB 2.0 is even slower.“
My question right back is, “why are you backing up 250 GB to an external drive?”, followed by “and why are you doing this while the computer is in use?”. A 250 GB backup, while a wise decision, should be done a) via Ethernet and b) off-hours. OK, maybe FireWire to tape … maybe. Still, not while the system is in ‘normal’ use.
DLMeyer;
Why? Unless your “normal” use consists of stuff that pegs all your cores at 80% or more, that is.
I use Time Machine on a USB connected machine, and when it does my TM backup, if I’m surfing or emailing or typing, I have no issues.
Of course, if you are backing up all 250 GB every night, then there’s something wrong with your backup scheme, unless you dump and regenerate 250 Gigs of info daily, that is.
FW800 is plenty fast enough for that, and FW1600 would be even better.
W400 was king of the hill for a long time and rightfully so. But USB 2.0 works just as well and is the standard now. Everyone including Apple knows this. —MPC Guy
USB 2.0 does NOT work “just as well.” Here are the primary differences:
(1) Portable drives frequently display crippling power issues when connected to portable computers with a single USB cable.
(2) USB 2.0 drives are not bootable.
(3) You cannot start your Mac in “target disk mode” by connecting it to another computer via USB.