Interconnecting equipment in the city environment is not the only area of concern. Commercial and industrial use of the IEEE 1394 bus is another source of possible problems. These applications typically have longer ground wiring runs and more noise generating equipment interconnected. CATV and antenna wiring entry points may also be great distances apart. As stated above, the bus communication could cease or, worse yet, become unreliable.
Unreliable communication is typically worse than total cessation.
When total cessation occurs, the system stops working and the user immediately knows something has gone wrong. However, it is very costly and consumes a large amount of volume in the end product. Capacitive isolation, capable of providing about 50 volts of isolation, is the more cost effective and space efficient solution. Diligent chip manufacturers have taken the recommended capacitive solution and reduced its complexity by integrating some of the external components into chips. This further reduces component count and, thus, saves space and money.