Keywords: USB, FireWire, IEEE1394, IEEE 1394, converter, adaptor, bridge

USB to IEEE1394 converter

This product enables the connection of IEEE1394 devices to USB port of a PC or laptop/notebook. The transmission is “unlimited” to USB High-Speed (480 Mbit/s) or S400 speed (393.216 Mbit/s) on FireWire, if connected devices allow such data rates.
Important! Reverse functionality, connection of USB devices to the IEEE1394 is not possible.

A suitable driver enables access to IEEE1394 bus without changing software. At first, software must be adopted.

Photo of device
The device: IEEE1394 in front, USB back

Applications

Typical devices to connect are: Some IEEE1394 devices require power from any other device of the bus. For those, this converter has a hollow socket to feed power by any suitable AC/DC adaptor. The converter itself powers solely by USB.
Currently, Linux or MacOS support is not planned.

Cloning hints

The device fits into a „Soap“ housing TEK10014.

The smallest SMD size is 0603 for capacitors (Reichelt). All components can be ordered at Digikey. The two FireWire chips by Texas Instruments had been ordered as sample from manufacturer.

Before populating the PCB, check net 3P3 for short-circuits against GND.

Then populate all SMD components e.g. by reflow soldering. Check the nets above again.

Then populate through-hole and edge-mount devices.

PCB photo
After population and fitting into housing
You power-up the device by connecting via a USB cable to a host PC. Then load the Cypress development kit, and download the firmware to serial EEPROM.

After then, Windows will pop up the Hardware Wizard to load an appropriate driver. This driver creates a FireWire stack, that moves data via USB.

Software

This is a dual-role device and therefore needs two kinds of software (firmware and driver): Expected data rates:

These downloads are only required for cloning:

This download is required for cloning and for firmware update:

This download is sufficient for running the device:

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Q: Is there a device for opposite direction? For connecting USB devices to FireWire?
A: In most cases, USB over Ethernet is suitable enough. There are different software solutions to solve this problem, consisting of: For FireWire, use TCP/IP over FireWire, and you are done.

If you can stick on Ethernet, a Raspberry Pi device can act as your converter, provided you find a way to compile the stub for Linux on Arm9 architecture. That device is also suitable to drive a USB WLAN stick, and thus act as a WLAN⇔USB converter.
Q: Concurrents?
A: For specific USB and FireWire class, yes. Here seen for Digital Video class.
Q: Is software (firmware, driver) available?
A: No.