New F-35 fighter jet will fly by firewire

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 05 September 2007 07:22

Business IT - Technology

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will make extensive use of IEEE1394b 'firewire' links to carry real-time signalling: a development at odds with recent claims that the technology is in decline.

According to the 1394 Trade Association, "1394b is playing a pivotal role in the F-35 Lightning II program, providing guaranteed quality of service with predictable latencies in real-time control applications. More than 70 1394 devices are delivering information about mission details, communication systems, weapon systems, engine controls, and flight controls."

The Association says that the F-35's developer, Lockheed Martin Corporation, and its partner contractors "selected the 1394b network standard after a trade study of other networking options including USB, Fibre Channel, and military standard 1553."

1394b has been chosen for the plane's vehicle systems network "based on its speed, bandwidth and long distance capabilities, and also because 1394b enables operational software downloads to network components without the need to remove any component after installation," the Association claims.

However, in a report issued in June, market research firm, In-Stat, said: "IEEE1394 faces major challenges and its market share is stagnating. The peak year for 1394 devices is expected to be 2008, and a slow decline will set in beginning in 2009."

In-Stat analyst, Brian O'Rourke, said: "1394 suffers from being the second-choice technology in many product segments. For example, 1394's historic one-third penetration of the PC market is now dwarfed by high-speed USB's 100 percent penetration. This has helped high-speed USB become the interface of choice for PC peripherals."

To counter this bad press, the 1394 Association noted in August that "Apple's introduction of new iMacs with 1394b this week demonstrates that the 1394b standard, also known as FireWire 800, is gaining significant momentum." .