Datasheet

58 Chapter 1
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Personal Computer System Components
FIGURE 1.38 USB ports
Because of USB’s higher transfer rate, flexibility, and ease of use, most devices that in the
past used serial interfaces now come with USB interfaces. It’s rare to see a newly introduced
PC accessory with a standard serial interface cable. For example, PC cameras used to come
as standard serial-only interfaces. Now you can buy them only with USB interfaces.
IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
Recently, one port has been slowly creeping into the mainstream and is seen more and
more often on desktop PCs. That port is the IEEE 1394 port (shown in Figure 1.39), more
commonly known as a FireWire port. Its popularity is due to its ease of use and very high
(400Mbps) transmission rates. Originally developed by Apple, it was standardized by IEEE
in 1995 as IEEE 1394. It is most often used as a way to get digital video into a PC so it can
be edited with digital video editing tools.
FIGURE 1.39 A FireWire port on a PC
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