Quote:
Originally Posted by Happy Camper /img/forum/go_quote.gif
So I got to ask. If I2S protocol was designed for register and timing information transfer, why aren't manufacturers making it available on the ethernet bus for use with other digital devices (ie dacs/printers/cameras)?
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because theres enough wrong with what you just said to make me cringe
ethernet isn't a bus, its a protocol standard that specifies not only a connection standard (physical layer) but a software/transmission layer as well
using I2S over 8P8C (the first person that "corrects" me saying RJ-45 is going to get slapped so hard their grandchildren will be born dizzy) is "non-standard" compliant, and EIA/IEEE/Intel/ASA/ISO/etc are pretty clear in terms of what their standards mean/do, and don't like non-standards crap happening when they can avoid it (in other words, yes, the law does matter quite a bit here)
then theres the bit that I2S doesn't do particularly well over long runs, which goes back to non-standard complaint, as ethernet over 8P8C is spec'd for roughly 100 meters transmission, I2S couldn't really do that same run, and so begins the standards issue (using the same connector for two standards often causes issues, for example cinch connectors)
the I2S standard is specified for audio, only, as an "inter-chip" connection, in other words its a bus protocol for "on board" communication
now, there are a few manufacturers and inventive modders who run I2S via 8P8C over Cat5E or Cat6 between devices, theres nothing inherently wrong with this, but they aren't running 100 meters+, and it can't be plugged into switching routers or similar equipment, and theres various other limitations, in other words, its kind of a hacked solution (and it works oh so well, and I mean this)