IEEE 1394 (FireWire/iLink).
The IEEE 1394 standard specifies a bus for use in high speed multimedia equipment. Originally designed by Apple (and called FireWire by Apple, and also known as iLink by Sony), the bus allows devices such as DV camcorders, DVDs and Digital Stills Cameras to be connected together. Many DV camcorders are currently fitted with FireWire/iLink interfaces.
FireWire/iLink is a hot swappable standard (devices do not have to be switched off to be plugged together), and has a current maximum speed of 400 Mbps, but enhancements to this standard will see the speed doubled to 800 Mbps. FireWire/iLink supports up to 63 devices, and FireWire/iLink cables should not exceed 4.5 Metres in any single cable run, with a maximum end-to-end length of 72 metres of cable.
FireWire/iLink devices are available in a 4 pin and a 6 pin version. The 6 pin version has 2 extra power pins.
4-pin Firewire Pinouts and functions.
| Pin Number | Abbreviation | Function |
| 1 | TPB- | |
| 2 | TPB+ | |
| 3 | TPA- | |
| 4 | TPA+ |
6-pin Firewire Pinouts and functions.
| Pin Number | Abbreviation | Function |
| 1 | POWER | Power |
| 2 | GND | Ground |
| 3 | TPB- | |
| 4 | TPB+ | |
| 5 | TPA- | |
| 6 | TPA+ |