What Is a Firewire Cable Used For?

A FireWire cable is used for many applications involving audio and video. The purpose of a FireWire cable is similar to a USB cable, but since FireWire has the capability of faster transfer rates, it has become the preferred method when large files are present. FireWire was developed by Apple in the 1980s, with many contributions from other companies and became commonplace in the mid-1990s. Another name that someone might see for FireWire is IEEE 1394.

Speeds

There are varied speeds at which FireWire operates. Older versions transfer at a rate of 100 megabits per second (mbps). FireWire 400, which transferred at 400 mbps came about in 1995. In 2002, FireWire 800 released and is able to transfer large files at 800 mbps. Improvements in 2008 were announced, and will involve speeds of 1.6 Gigabits and 3.2 Gigabits per second, while March 2009 brought an announcement of 6.4 Gigabits per second on devices to be released in 2010 and beyond.

Digital Video

One of the uses for FireWire cable is for digital video. When camcorders received the ability to record in high definition, a better way to transfer the crisp video was needed and a FireWire port was added for this reason. Mini-DV, DVD and Hard drive camcorders utilize a FireWire port because the digital files run large and using a USB cable might drop video frames in the transfer.

Networking

The most common cable used for networking is Ethernet. But in most Windows (Millennium and newer), the Mac OS, and Linux, FireWire support was included for networking purposes. Computers could be hooked together in ad-hoc fashion (local) to create a fast network where multimedia was important to a household or business. In 2004, Microsoft did not include FireWire networking support for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 and declared it would not add subsequent support for additional Windows.

Live Streaming

Some cable boxes use a FireWire cable to stream On Demand programming because movies and TV shows are situated on a cable company's storage unit and a fast method of getting that video to a customer needs to be efficient. Besides streaming, the cable boxes also provide DVR recording support via FireWire. If a customer's cable box does not have FireWire, the cable company must provide one upon request.

Other Versions

While IEEE-1394 is a familiar version of FireWire, other standards do exist. The CCP, or the Customer Convenience Port is used by the automotive industry. Sony's i.LINK is integrated into many Sony devices like camcorders, digital cameras and the Sony PlayStation 3. Texas Instrument's version of FireWire is called Lynx, but does the same thing. It's just used in many Texas Instrument's equipment.