IEEE 1394

A competitor to USB (Universal Serial Bus) which could operate without a host computer—unlike USB—the IEEE 1394 transmission protocol is better known as FireWire or iLink. Several versions of IEEE 1394 exist, including 1394a and 1394b, with speeds from 400 mbps up to 800 mbps. Apple was a primary champion of FireWire, is credited with creation of the standard and has recently moved to Thunderbolt, which is capable of 10Gbps transmission rates.