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Wireless Firewire

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,545
30,856
The 1394 Trade Association has approved a specification which would allow the development of wireless Firewire devices.
The new Protocol Adaptation Layer (PAL) for IEEE 1394 over IEEE 802.15.3 was approved Monday. In a statement, the trade association said: “The PAL is designed as a standard convergence layer between the 802.15.3 MAC and applications developed for wired 1394. It builds upon the 1394 infrastructure--for example, data formats, connection-management schemes, and time synchronization procedures--and takes advantage of the excellent quality of service available in 802.15.3.”
Click to expand...

Examples of new products with the new specification include wireless connections to DVD players and hard drives from set top boxes. Prototype products are expected before the end of the year.

Apple has been an early adopter of Firewire, so adoption of this technology could be expected.
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2004/05/12/wireless-firewire/
Y

yossele

macrumors member
Apr 10, 2003
48
0
Bobov
what speed can we expect, if FireWire is 400MBs then it should better be closer then farther, otherwise it can be called wireless USB :)
 
stoid

stoid

macrumors 601
Feb 17, 2002
4,312
29
So long, and thanks for all the fish!
I don't see this being AS useful as you might think since you can't transmit power wirelessly, but perhaps you'll be able to get a small power pack that plugs into the device's FireWire port to supply the power. It would be killer for home networks though... and LAN parties!
 
A

aussiemac86

macrumors 6502
Apr 12, 2004
261
0
the land of OZ
I think this has massive potential for stuff like wireless displays and as someone before said wireless i sights.

Also that would be a decent enough speed to stream music over a network wouldnt it, video even. So options to move into "media centres" connecting stereos and TV's etc to computers wirelessly would be very useful
 
N

Nutzoids

macrumors member
Apr 27, 2003
64
0
Philly
Inferno

Kinda makes you think back to that Apple pizza box rumor from last year. You know the one that connects to your TV and records you TV shows and holds all your MP3s. And connect wirelessly. Ummm dreams :rolleyes:
 
KC9AIC

KC9AIC

macrumors 6502
Jan 31, 2004
316
0
Tokyo, Japan or Longview, Texas
A firewireless iPod is unlikely, because, as others have noted, no power can be given to the iPod. Instead of charging the battery while connecting to your Mac, you're depleting the battery by using a radio transmitter. The possibilities are limited, but still fun to think about.
 
thatwendigo

thatwendigo

macrumors 6502a
Nov 17, 2003
992
0
Sum, Ergo Sum.
The point of 1394 over wireless is to speed A/V streaming transmission over a connection without a physical link. Unlike what most people here are thinking, 1394 is a protocol, not a cable and port, that can be applied to more than one medium. Rather than using a packet-driven system like TCP/IP, it streams uncompressed audio and video across the wire. At the moment, the wired. 6-pin connector that Apple sells as FireWire is a 400Mbit/s wired connection, and the and FireWire 800 is just the extension of that to 800Mbit/s.

The wireless format that they're working to reconcile this with, 802.15.3, is supposedly going to move the bandwidth up significantly. However, contrary to what those who are lusting after wireless displays might hope, it's far from being manufactured at this point and might not even have the capacity then. The only "smart displays" on the market can't display video, have their own embedded RAM and processror (just likeI said they would), and are limited to things like text processing, web browsing, and other non-strenuous tasks.
 
W

Wash!!

macrumors 6502
Jan 8, 2002
389
0
here, there, who knows
Wrong

stoid said:
I don't see this being AS useful as you might think since you can't transmit power wirelessly, but perhaps you'll be able to get a small power pack that plugs into the device's FireWire port to supply the power. It would be killer for home networks though... and LAN parties!
Click to expand...

Transmitting power over the air is been around since the late 1800's Nikola Tesla discovered and it was one of his inventions a wireless electric generator all you have to do was put out an antenna and you got power, he die before e could finished.

Tesla also worked with radio-frequency electromagnetic waves, and despite the claims made by Marconi, actually did invent the idea of Radio as we know it today. (There are numerous patents which bear this out.) In working with radio waves, Tesla created the Tesla coil as a means to generate and receive this form of energy.

Tesla went on to experiment with actual wireless transmission of electrical power. In Colorado Springs, Colorado, he built a laboratory to develop this. The Colorado Springs lab contained the largest Tesla Coil ever built, even today. Called the 'Magnifying Transmitter', it was capable of generating some 300,000 watts of power, and (reportedly) could produce a bolt of lightning 130 feet long. According to local acounts, Tesla actually managed to successfully transmit about 30 to 50 thousand watts of power without wires using the 'Transmitter'.


Transmitting such low power to run appliances like dvd's should not be too difficult...
 
whooleytoo

whooleytoo

macrumors 604
Aug 2, 2002
6,607
716
Cork, Ireland.
KC9AIC said:
A firewireless iPod is unlikely, because, as others have noted, no power can be given to the iPod. Instead of charging the battery while connecting to your Mac, you're depleting the battery by using a radio transmitter. The possibilities are limited, but still fun to think about.
Click to expand...

You're right there; an iPod with both might be feasible (i.e. the iPod acting as the source for other wireless Firewire (Wi-- WiFi? :D ) devices nearby), but there's still the problem of the additional battery drain of the antenna, and is unlikely unless/until Apple significently improves the iPod's battery life.
 
Stella

Stella

macrumors G3
Apr 21, 2003
8,838
6,341
Canada
Tesla had all his research taken away by the government... today could be slightly different if he was allowed to continue.

Wireless FW would be great. Imagine: sitting outside on my patio with my iBook.. and still be able to use my FW hard discs via wireless FW.

Wash!! said:
Transmitting power over the air is been around since the late 1800's Nikola Tesla discovered and it was one of his inventions a wireless electric generator all you have to do was put out an antenna and you got power, he die before e could finished.


Tesla also worked with radio-frequency electromagnetic waves, and despite the claims made by Marconi, actually did invent the idea of Radio as we know it today. (There are numerous patents which bear this out.) In working with radio waves, Tesla created the Tesla coil as a means to generate and receive this form of energy.

Tesla went on to experiment with actual wireless transmission of electrical power. In Colorado Springs, Colorado, he built a laboratory to develop this. The Colorado Springs lab contained the largest Tesla Coil ever built, even today. Called the 'Magnifying Transmitter', it was capable of generating some 300,000 watts of power, and (reportedly) could produce a bolt of lightning 130 feet long. According to local acounts, Tesla actually managed to successfully transmit about 30 to 50 thousand watts of power without wires using the 'Transmitter'.


Transmitting such low power to run appliances like dvd's should not be too difficult...
Click to expand...
 
C

ClimbingTheLog

macrumors 6502a
May 21, 2003
633
0
Consumer Mentality

AL-FAMOUS said:
wont everything have to have its own power supply though??? limiting its possibilities??
Click to expand...

Whether it makes sense or not, the consumer mentality is that power cords are easy, anything else is hard.

We know that bus-powered firewire devices are as easy as you can get, but firewireless will appeal to the mass market.

Besides, if the range is good you might get to go further than 1394, and most people aren't up to stringing 1394b optical cable around the house.
 
W

Wash!!

macrumors 6502
Jan 8, 2002
389
0
here, there, who knows
True

Stella said:
Tesla had all his research taken away by the government... today could be slightly different if he was allowed to continue.

Wireless FW would be great. Imagine: sitting outside on my patio with my iBook.. and still be able to use my FW hard discs via wireless FW.
Click to expand...

HE also invented the laser cannon or the high intensity particle bean that the US military has been experimenting since the "Star Wars" program began en the mid 80's . Tesla was as brilliant as Einstein was and possible more..
 
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