This section summarizes additional requirements for IEEE 1394 peripherals such as consumer-electronics devices.
6. Device command protocols conform to standard device class interfaces
Required
For complete information, see the WDM reference in the Windows NT 5.0 DDK.
7. Devices support peak data rate of 400 Mb/s, minimum
Recommended
For PC 98 designs, 400-Mb/s IEEE 1394 devices are strongly recommended; 100-Mb/s devices are strongly discouraged; and 200-Mb/s devices should limit their peak bus utilization to less than 50 percent.
For nonhost devices, a 200-Mb/s device with a 160-Mb/s data stream requires 80 percent bus utilization, effectively lowering overall bus bandwidth to 200 Mb/s for 80 percent of the time. Therefore, low bus utilization is required in order for 100-Mb/s and 200-Mb/s devices to coexist with 400-Mb/s peripheral devices. For example, three devices performing at 200 Mb/s each with 30 percent bus utilization would saturate the bus.
Also, application bandwidth can be limited by speed traps (that is, a slow device separating two faster devices), imposing speed-dependent cabling considerations on the end user.
8. Devices requiring support for high-bandwidth data transfer use IEEE 1394
Recommended
For devices that require support for high-bandwidth data transfers and Plug and Play connectivity, the IEEE 1394 bus is recommended. Such devices include the following:
| Component audio | DVD | Printers |
| Digital camcorder | Hard disk drives | Set-top television controllers |
| DTV | High-resolution scanners | Video conferencing cameras |
| Digital VCR | PC docking stations |