The IEEE 1394 standard has captured the fancy of a large number of other standards organizations that see the benefit of what is being developed by 1394. The key battleground for 1394 will be the wiring of the home, where several competing standards are prepared to jump on the copper wiring bandwagon which has problems such as coping with the high EMI/RFI environment in the home.
The 1394 standard in its fiber optics version overcomes the EMI problem and has some other features that make it especially attractive for consumer applications, such as:
• Plug and play
• Daisy chain up to 63 devices
• Hot pluggable
• Isochronous and asynchronous transmission
• Peer-to-peer communications
• Potentially low cost, easy to use
A critical element for the success of 1394 is home wiring. Other networks are being proposed for wiring the home. Although 1394 is gaining widespread support from organizations such as VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association), DAVIC and CEMA (Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association) as well as the major electronics and software suppliers such as Intel, Microsoft, IBM, Lucent technologies and Texas Instruments, competing systems using existing technologies will move ahead unless 1394 gets on a fast track and makes their requirements known.
The Home Phone line Networking Alliance has been formed consisting of fourteen computer chip and communications companies, with the purpose of boosting the prospects for networking of personal computers in the home. The system proposed will use telephone wiring with a speed of one megabit per second, much below the speeds contained in the 1394 specifications.
Initially developed for home use, it is expected that the 1394 standard will be used in a wide range of applications in addition to the home or branch office, but also in automobiles and aircraft entertainment systems and industrial data acquisition applications.
IGIC has forecasted the market for 1394 components sold to be 44 million units in 1999, growing to over 350 million units by 2002. The market is in a state of flux, but products are now being shipped with 1394 interfaces. The next year will be critical if 1394 is to reach its expected potential. If the market potential is attained, the market estimates forecasted could be quite conservative.
