A method and apparatus for accelerating detection of speed code signals,
and in particular S400 signals, for IEEE Standard 1394-1995 serial bus
devices. The present invention validates S400 mode immediately after
detecting an S400 speed signal, or immediately after detecting an S400
speed signal following a first S200 speed signal. The invention further
provides S200 and S100 mode validation according to current
implementations. Additionally, the invention does not require
RX_DATA_PREFIX as a pre-requisite for signal detection.