WTF is IEEE 1394a ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_1394_interface
"An amendment, IEEE 1394a, was released in 2000,[20] which clarified and improved the original specification. It added support for asynchronous streaming, quicker bus reconfiguration, packet concatenation, and a power-saving suspend mode.

1394a also standardized the 4-circuit alpha connector developed by Sony and trademarked as "i.LINK", already widely in use on consumer devices such as camcorders, most PC laptops, a number of PC desktops, and other small FireWire devices. The 4-circuit connector is fully data-compatible with 6-circuit alpha interfaces but lacks power connectors."