FCI’s Newest HD SAS Internal Cable Assemblies Featuring 3M Twin Axial Cable SL8800 Series
February 2012—FCI and 3M are partnering on the newest SFF 8643 Mini Multilane Internal Cable Assemblies for SAS HD connections from FCI, which feature the high-performance Twin Axial Cable SL8800 Series from 3M. SFF 8643 assemblies from FCI support the SAS 2.1 standard at 6 Gb/s data rate, and are expected to be fully compliant with the upcoming SAS 3.0 specification, which will increase the data rate up to 12 Gb/s. These cable assemblies are ideal for system applications requiring high density routing in tight spaces, or where restricted airflow is a concern.

The twin axial cable from 3M allows FCI to offer miniSAS HD internal cable assemblies that deliver excellent electrical performance to the defined SAS 2.1 and proposed SAS 3.0 industry standards. The cable’s mechanical advantages also allow FCI the ability to offer cables that can be bent at a 90-degree angle during routing without any signal degradation.

FCI’s internal miniSAS HD cables will be offered in both the 4x (4 channel) and 8x (8 channel) versions, and all of the cables include standard sideband signaling. In addition to the internal cables, FCI also offers internal miniSAS HD board connectors (also SFF-8643 complaint), as well as a complete line of miniSAS HD external board connector systems and external cable assemblies, both of which are fully SFF-8644 compliant.

“FCI is a global leader in interconnect solutions and 3M is excited to work with them to bring this advanced cable assembly to market,” said David N. Schneider, global business manager, 3M Electronic Solutions Division, Interconnect Business. “The combined capabilities of both FCI and 3M make this offering an ideal solution for a variety of industry solutions, and in particular, solutions where utilizing a limited space with optimal airflow is vital for performance.”

The Twin Axial Cable SL8800 Series from 3M is well suited for paddle card terminated cable assemblies. Now available in various two, four, and five differential pair 100 ohm 30 AWG versions, the SL8800 Series Cable is the optimum solution for space-constrained systems. This internal cable is extremely thin, very flexible and can even be folded with minimal loss or performance impact. The low profile nature of the cable also presents minimal obstruction to airflow, providing potential power savings to designers, and increased value to the end customer. SL8800 Series Cable is extremely high bandwidth, demonstrating virtually no resonance or discontinuities out to 42 GHz. Depending on length, attenuation requirements and termination, applications to 25 Gb/s and beyond can be implemented with SL8800 Series Cable. Current popular applications supported by SL8800 Series Cable are MiniSAS SFF-8087 and SFF-8088, MiniSAS HD SFF 8643, PCI Express implemented on SFF 8087, and SATA assemblies. 3M will continue to offer more variations of SL8800 Series Cable, including external versions and performance enhancements.

Visit FCI and 3M online.

Molex Stac64 Product Family Certified to the Most Stringent Automotive OEM Criteria
January 2012–Molex’s Stac64 Stackable Connection System is now validated against the most stringent specifications from the major key automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in Germany, France, and Japan. In addition, new patents have been awarded for the Stac64 design.

“Since its launch two years ago, we have undertaken the validation of the Stac64 product line towards all key automotive OEM specifications surpassing the most stringent requirements,” said Selvan Wilhelm, global product manager, Molex. “We are the only connector manufacturer in the world to achieve such performance levels with certification from the major automotive OEMs.”

Designed originally as a standard product system based on USCAR-2 Class II mechanical and electrical performance characteristics for unsealed connector applications, the Stac64 design has since secured new patents relating to the stackable header. “This design evolution differentiates the Stac64 family from the standard products available on the market today, resulting in a new product specification for the Stac64 family, as well as a new Design Validation Plan Report (DVPR) worldwide,” added Wilhelm.

The Stac64 stackable connection system allows OEMs greater design flexibility to support both low-level signal requirements as well as power applications upwards of 30.0A. It also allows the manufacturers to use header assemblies as stand-alone components or to gang multiple headers together to support a large range of signal and power needs for devices and modules.

Visit Molex online.

TE Connectivity Designs Solderless LED Socket for Nichia Chip-on-Board LEDs
January 2012—TE Connectivity announces a new addition to its solderless LED socket series — the Type NL2 socket for quick termination of NICHIA COB-L LEDs. This new offering, which provides a reliable mechanical and electrical connection of an LED onto a heat sink, enhances TE’s existing broad portfolio of solderless LED sockets.

Connecting LEDs without the need to solder manually offers many benefits. Soldering is a time-consuming process, as LEDs are difficult to solder to, with solder flux splatter possibly damaging the light emitting area of the LED. In addition, a solder termination is awkward to undo and over time can become a weak point that can considerably reduce the reliability of the connection. The heat from the soldering process can also transfer to the LED and shorten its lifespan. In contrast, the solderless socket enables greater uniformity in connections with a strong yet removable connection and no need for heat application.

The one-piece connector assembly features TE’s proven poke-in wire termination method for 18 through 22 AWG solid, 18 through 20 AWG prebonded and 18 AWG stranded wires. Termination to the COB-L LED is simplified with locating features that position the LED into the socket during the assembly process. This creates mechanical protection for the ceramic LED edges. In addition, the integrated polarization feature enables a secure and lasting connection, which fits solid, stranded, or fused wire. This makes the installation process extremely quick and easy with minimal manual work, helping to reduce time and costs.

Additional product features include:

• A cleared area designated for reflector mounting that accepts custom or commercially-available optics

• UV-resistant housing material to prevent housing discoloration

• Molded polarity indicator on housing.

The socket has been designed specifically for chip-on-board LEDs from NICHIA. It is suitable for applications such as retail lighting, commercial down lights, and high bay lighting. It is UL-recognized to UL 1977 for use in UL 8750 applications and is RoHS compliant.

Visit TE online.

ITT PowerLock Box Offers Fast Emergency Power Supply Connection
January 2012—The VEAM PowerLock Box from ITT Interconnect Solutions enables emergency power to be quickly and safely re-connected to large facilities such as supermarkets, defence installations, factories, hospitals, and offices in the event of failure of the mains supply. Offering a single re-connection point, the PowerLock Box provides a simple and speedy solution, vital to protect valuable frozen and chilled foodstuffs in supermarkets and restore power to essential equipment in hospitals and offices.

The VEAM PowerLock Box provides a single, easy-to-use connection point for any emergency generator, and when fitted in a supermarket’s electrical switch room or sub-station, allows cables from a mobile generator to be quickly connected to the store’s power system.  The PowerLock Box has ground, neutral, and 3-phase connectors, which are keyway controlled and can only be mated in the correct sequence.  Contacts are finger-protected to prevent inadvertent touching of live parts.  

Electrical specifications include current ratings of 400A and 600A and up to 1,000VAC.  Connectors are colour coded to international 3-phase standards and can be mated up to 500 cycles. The PowerLock Box is 19” rack mountable in 2U space. Available in sealed, lidded and lockable versions, the PowerLock Box is also VDE certified.

Visit ITT online.

Phoenix Contact Inverted PCB Terminal Blocks for Touch-proof Power Connections
The new IPC 35 plugs and headers add touch-proof PCB connection to Phoenix Contact’s PC 35 terminal block system. Like the original PC 35 series, the inverted IPC 35 connectors can carry currents up to 115 Ampere (UL) and cable sizes of up to 2 AWG, the highest specifications currently available. The IPC 35 series offers PCB-to-PCB and wire-to-wire connections and is ideal for applications that need to take power from the PCB. The plug connectors and headers are also available in a four-pin version with an EMC-grade shield connection.

The insertion and withdrawal forces of the connectors are very low, considering the high power rating. This provides a user-friendly interface. The conductor connection is made by tightening the tension sleeve with a common screwdriver. The two- to six-pin plug connectors are equipped with screw flanges that reliably latch it to the header. The screw flange can also be used as a panel feed-through on the header side, providing additional stability within the device.

With centerline spacing of 15 mm, the connectors have received an unrestricted 600 V UL rating in compliance with UL1059. The IPC 35 series can be used in power electronics, frequency converters, motor connections, solar inverters, and electric vehicle charging stations.

ERNI Electronics Enters the COM Market
Adelberg/Germany, January 2012 —ERNI Electronics has entered the computer-on-modules (COM) market. At Embedded World in Nuremberg (February 28 to March 1, 2012), the company will present the first products of the new WHITEspeed family. These products address the requirements for powerful, reliable, and space-saving embedded computers. ERNI has been able to draw on its extensive experience in the field of board and backplane design, in addition to its core competency in compact and high performance connectors, to develop these products. The implementation of the new WHITEspeed interface standard benefits from the high speed and reliability of the MicroSpeed connectors. With this, the company is in particular addressing applications in harsh and demanding industrial environments such as in the field of transport, heavy engineering, and automation exposed to high shock and vibration loads.

The popular ARM technology has now attained a level of performance that makes it attractive also for sophisticated embedded computing applications. Comprehensive operating systems and software support simplifies the development of software for numerous applications. With a new standard for ARM-based computer-on-modules, ERNI simplifies system development on hardware level and offers high signal integrity leveraging from the benefits of the MicroSpeed connectors.

The portfolio comprises a family of pin-compatible ARM-based mezzanine modules, which differentiate in terms of the CPU performance (clock rate, number of cores, coprocessors) and I/Os and memory capacity. In addition, a fully equipped, adaptable baseboard is available, which can be supplied also with an optional display. This carrier board is the development platform for the application software and, at the same time, the basis for customer-specific boards. Using four MicroSpeed signal connectors and one MicroSpeed power module, ERNI realises the new standardised interface (WHITEspeed 1.0) of the modules to the baseboard, which supports the following: Ethernet 10MB/100MB/1GB, SATA, PCIe x1/x4, Express Card, UART, USB 2.0 High Speed, CAN, I2C, SMB (system management bus), SPI, LVDS LCD display, SDVO (serial digital video out), HDA (high definition audio), SecureDigital memory card interface, GPIOs, RESET, Watchdog, PWM, and an optional camera interface.

On a credit card format (85mm x 55mm), the new mezzanine boards offer a powerful i.MX537 CPU from Freescale with an ARM Cortex-A8 core. To permit high-speed and reliable connection to the baseboard and I/Os, two-row 50-pin MicroSpeed connectors are available. The MicroSpeed connectors are characterized by dual-leaf spring contact and shielding. This allows high data rates (up to 10Gbps) to be transmitted reliably. This makes extremely compact, high-speed, and reliable connections possible also in harsh industrial environments.

The use of MicroSpeed connectors offers decisive advantages with regard to reliability and robustness compared with alternatives using card-edge connectors or connectors with only one contact point. Thanks to the dual-leaf contacts, the MicroSpeed connectors not only offer high contact reliability but also an excellent mating tolerance.

As a CPU option for modules, ERNI Electronics initially offers an i.MX537 with ARM Cortex A8 (up to 800 MHz at -40°C to 85°C). The on-board memories include DDR3-RAM (1 to 2GB), reliable NOR flash (64 to 256MB) for the boot code, NAND flash (2 to 4GB), and I2C-EEPROM with up to 128KB for the configuration data. The CPUs also offer comprehensive power management functions.

For the product launch, Linux support is provided by a board support package (BSP). Real-time Linux, Windows (Windows Embedded), as well as additional operating systems are to follow on request.

Visit ERNI online.