IEEE-1394 and AS5643 bring deterministic networking to high reliability Mil-Aero designs (February 27 2013)

For years, IEEE-1394 (FireWire) has been a successful and popular consumer electronics and computer interface. While that is true, the strongest design activity recently has been in other sectors. Over the past 17 years IEEE-1394 has been gaining traction as an aerospace and defense (A&D) high-speed interface and is used in programs such as the F-35 Lightning II, NPOESS, X47B, JSOW, and X2000, plus many others.

Much of IEEE-1394’s success came with the development of IEEE-1394b-2002, which specified several key features that when coupled with SAE Standard AS5643 created a deterministic, robust, and redundant system architecture that meets most A&D requirements for a hard real-time control bus. Technology suitability studies are common within the A&D industry for specific subsystems such as flight control, mission systems, and avionics to measure how technology meets stringent requirements; this document highlights several criteria often used to evaluate I/O technologies an how 1394 coupled with AS5643 meet them.

IEEE-1394 was first standardized in 1995. Major updates were completed in 2000 (IEEE-1394a-2000), 2002 (IEEE-1394b-2002), and in 2008 (IEEE-1394-2008). IEEE-1394-2008 Beta refined and extended IEEE-1394b-2002. It defines operation from S100 (98.304 Mb/s) to S3200 (3.932 Gb/s). Given this wide range of throughput options, 1394 is suitable for vehicle management and avionic and mission system networks including Electro-Optic/Infrared (EO/IR) sensor interfaces.

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DapTechnology releases 1394 Low-Level Symbol Recorder (October 9 2012)

(Nijmegen, The Netherlands, October 9, 2012) -- DapTechnology, a world-leading supplier of advanced IEEE 1394 technology solutions to the aerospace, defense, industrial, automotive and consumer electronics markets announced today the availability of the 1394 Low-Level Symbol Recorder module for their FireStealth Analyzer product line.

The 1394 Low-Level Symbol Recorder is a new mode of operation for FireStealth that enables capturing raw 1394 bit patterns in a non-intrusive way. Sophisticated software scans through these bit patterns and decodes all bits into low-level 1394 symbols and toning patterns. The new FireDiagnostics Suite module "Symbol Recorder" offers a user-friendly interface for downloading and analyzing captured data. [more]

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DapTechnology Demonstrates 3.2 Gigabit IEEE1394b Firewire SOC Solution (November 8 2011)

NIJMEGEN, The Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DapTechnology, a world-leading supplier of advanced IEEE 1394 protocol analyzers and solutions to the aerospace, defense, industrial, automotive and consumer electronics markets announced today that a prototype version of the world’s first high speed 3.2 Gigabit 1394b Firewire SOC Solution will be demonstrated at Vision 2011 in Stuttgart Germany. The demonstration will show data being transferred between the local file systems of two personal computers via a high speed IEEE 1394b S3200 connection. The setup will feature DapTechnology’s S3200 HAC Host Reference Adapters installed within each PC and connected together via copper cabling transmitting data at S3200. Additionally, a FireSpy 3200 analyzer will be connected to the system in order to monitor and record activity on the S3200 connection, while a user interface will show the data rates achieved and summarize other transmission attributes. DapTechnology is building on the already released IEEE 1394b S1600 solution which is currently being integrated within some key customer systems.[more]

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IEEE 1394 Industry Expert Makes Quantum Leap to DapTechnology (October 20 2011)

Phoenix, AZ (20th, October, 2011) – DapTechnology, a leading provider of IEEE1394 (Firewire, iLink) technology, test and measurement equipment, systems and services, has expanded its international operations by appointing industry veteran Richard Mourn as Director of Systems Engineering for North America. Responding to increasing customer interest in its IEEE 1394 products & technology, Netherlands-based DapTechnology decided to augment its international team with a seasoned IEEE1394 expert to more closely serve its expanding North American customer base and strategic partner network.

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DapTechnology's 1394b FireLink Extended IP boosts download performance on Ampex MiniR700 Solid State Data Recorder (August 23 2010)

DapTechnology, a leading world supplier of advancedIEEE 1394 technology solutions to the aerospace, defense, industrial, automotive and consumer electronics markets, announced today that Ampex Data Systems Corporation of Redwood City, California has deployed the DapTechnology FireLink Extended1394b Link Layer Controller IP Core within its MiniR® Solid State Data Recorder line. FireLink Extended, implemented in industry-standard VHDL code, is available for Xilinx and Altera FPGA devices. The product is currently targeted at applications requiring up to 3.2 Gigabits/sec bandwidth and embedded designs requiring a general purpose, high throughput DMA-architected IEEE 1394b Link Layer Controller.

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DapTechnology’s FireTrac 1394b Test Platform achieves Compatible with LabVIEW certification from National Instruments (July 19 2010)

(Nijmegen, The Netherlands, August 2, 2010) - DapTechnology, a world-leading supplier of advanced IEEE 1394 protocol analyzers & interface solutions to the aerospace, defense, industrial, automotive and consumer electronics markets announced today that Austin, Texas-based National Instruments creator of NI LabVIEW software, has tested the company’s FireTrac 1394b Test Platform and the product complies with the Compatible with LabVIEW guidelines. The VI (Virtual Instrument) libraries supplied with FireTrac provide the LabVIEW developer with a familiar, flexible and user-friendly interface to FireTrac’s powerful 1394b monitoring, recording and signal generation engines. VIs for reception, transmission, signal monitoring and recording of SAE AS5643 MIL1394 Protocol are supported, along with external time input formats such as IRIG B.

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DapTechnology’s FireLink 1394b LLC IP Core Enhances PixeLINK’s Firewire Vision (December 7 2009)

(Nijmegen, The Netherlands, December 7, 2009) DapTechnology, a leading world supplier of advanced IEEE 1394 technology solutions to the aerospace, defense, industrial, automotive and consumer electronics markets, announced today that PixeLINK of Ottawa, Ontario has selected and is currently integrating the DapTechnology FireLink 1394b Link Layer Controller IP Core as a key component of the company’s Megapixel™ camera product line. FireLink, implemented in industry-standard VHDL code, is available for Xilinx and Altera FPGA devices. The product is targeted at applications requiring up to 800 Mbits/Sec of bandwidth and embedded designs requiring a general purpose IEEE 1394b Link Layer Controller.

FireLink provides facilities for transmitting and receiving IEEE 1394 packets, including asynchronous, isochronous, and PHY packets at speeds of up to 800Mb/s. DapTechnology markets both a Basic and Extended version of FireLink. The FireLink Basic version is optimized for small core sizes while the FireLink Extended version, which leverages on OHCI-compatible DMA transfer technology, is optimized for high throughput applications.

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