Versatile tester for IEEE-1394 bus

The new FireWorks 1394 VK9000 from Yokogawa Martron is designed to provide engineers with a powerful 'out of the box' solution for testing systems based on the IEEE-1394 bus.

The new FireWorks 1394 VK9000 from Yokogawa Martron is designed to provide engineers with a powerful 'out of the box' solution for the test and measurement of systems based on the IEEE-1394 bus.

The new system has been developed to support the rapid emergence of the IEEE 1394 standard in the home automation (HAVi) and automotive electronics industries.

The recent introduction of the IDB 1394 draft specification by the 1394 Trade Association and the IDB Forum (Intelligent Transportation System Data Bus) has heightened the interest in 1394 for automotive applications as multimedia functionality is no longer limited to consumer electronics and PCs.

The next generation of automotive electronic systems are set to blur the divisions between the home, office, and in-car devices, and this huge, emerging market is demanding high-level 1394 test equipment such as the VK9000 and its associated FireWorks 1394 testing software.

The VK9000 will support all phases of the product development cycle from proof of concept through debugging to active support.

It will help to significantly reduce product development time and effort, and will actively assist companies to bring their products to the market quickly.

From an engineer's standpoint, the VK9000 provides essential features such as data capture, data analysis and data generation.

Simultaneous generation and capture is implemented, along with flexible triggering, filtering, bandwidth analysis and CSR access.

An external trigger is provided for analogue signal analysis using an oscilloscope.

The VK9000 provides real-time topology and speed mapping functions, and with facilities like snooping and packet generation at speeds of 100, 200 and 400Mbit/s is able to support the 1394-2000 bus as well as the 1394-1995 standards.

In addition, the dP9000 also supports SBP-2, AV/C, IP, HAVi and user-defined custom protocols.

The VK9000 uses a flat-panel touchscreen and a separate infrared keyboard, and its small footprint allows it to fit any test bench.

Unlike some other test products, it is a self-contained instrument, so users are not required to requisition additional computers, connect host adaptor cards, load software or transfer capture buffer contents via a non-native 1394 connection.

IEEE 1394, also called FireWire by Apple Computer and iLINKT by Sony, is an industry standard communication technology that provides a high-speed, low-cost method to interconnect consumer electronics such as digital AV products and PCs.

It is also being increasingly used for industrial applications.

As the emerging industry standard, IEEE 1394 will unite the next generation of multimedia systems, and promises to further merge consumer electronics and PCs.

Back to top