2009 New Product Review
By Bob Hult, Bishop & Associates Inc.

To say that 2009 has been a challenging year is a major understatement. Unlike the recession of 2000-2002, which was largely confined to select market segments, this economic meltdown has driven the entire global economy into the dumps. The low point appears to have occurred in the first quarter and was accompanied by a series of severe layoffs at many connector manufacturers.

However, a steady trend toward recovery has boosted anticipation of a better year in 2010 and beyond. Bishop & Associates has overlaid the profile of this recession against the 2000-2002 setback for comparison. The severity of this downturn is much more pronounced, but the shape of the falloff, duration, and recovery is remarkably similar. If this trend continues, we can expect real growth to return to the connector industry in early 2010. In the short term, companies are choosing to limit hiring and to do more with reduced resources.

In spite of poor business levels and uncertainty in the market, connector manufacturers continued to develop and introduce new connectors in 2009. The DesignCon2009 highlights included interconnects that addressed high-speed backplane, mezzanine, and I/O applications.



Amphenol TCS showcased their wide range of high-performance interfaces, including the XCede platform. A new 85-ohm version of XCede receptacles was specifically designed to support PCI Express 2.0 and 3.0, as well as the Intel QuickPath architecture.

Amphenol InterCon Systems also announced the availability of XCede cable assemblies that meet the performance requirements of the IEEE 802.3 10+ Gb/s standard.
 

 

 

FCI Electronics also introduced an 85-ohm version of their popular AirMax VS backplane connector family.

Their ZipLine shieldless high-speed backplane connector family was expanded with a new coplanar right-angle pin header. The header module mates with a standard right-angle receptacle, and enables 72 high-speed differential signals.

 

  

A highly unique configuration of the ZipLine orthogonal connector includes 12 orthogonal midplane wafers with two rows of standard backplane wafers on each side. This 6X16 hybrid assembly provides 72 direct high-speed differential signals orthogonally through the midplane, with 72 additional contacts that can be used for single-ended or power requirements.


 




Hirose Electric introduced the IT3 Series high-speed mezzanine connector with stacking heights ranging from 15 to 40mm, and is rated to 10+ Gb/s. Modifying the signal/ground ratio can reportedly boost the bandwidth to 20 Gb/s. A variety of stacking heights are achieved by using a shielded interposer assembly that is locked to the mounting receptacle. Select interposers have been tooled in 100-, 200-, and 300-position sizes. Hirose has partnered with Tyco Electronics as the second source for the IT3 connector, which will be marketed under the Tyco brand name STRADA MZConn3 Series.

Molex showed their new high-density coplanar and edge card connectors. Contacts are on 0.8mm centerlines and offer differential performance to 12.5 Gb/s. Circuit sizes vary from 30 to 294 positions.

 

 

  

EdgeLine is a portfolio of Molex one-piece connectors to address a variety of high-performance/cost-sensitive applications.
 


Tyco Electronics announced two entirely new connectors that push the limits of existing product.

The STRADA Whisper backplane connector is rated from 25 to 40 Gb/s, and features individually shielded differential pair construction. A micro ACTION PIN (MAP) press-fit terminal on the daughtercard minimizes distortion attributed to the footprint. This skew-less connector was designed to minimize crosstalk and insertion loss. The STRADA Whisper connector is the first backplane connector system rated to perform at up to 40 Gb/s.

An 85-ohm version of the Z-Pack TinMan 10+ Gb/s backplane connector is now also available in 3- and 5-pair modules.

Market interest in high-performance mezzanine connectors has stimulated the development of several new options.

 


The STRADA Mesa mezzanine connector from Tyco Electronics is designed for 15+ Gb/s applications. It features the unique capability of combining high-speed, low-speed, and 10 amp power contacts in a single housing. Stacking heights range from 8 to 42mm in 1mm increments. Taller heights incorporate vented housings to allow improved cooling airflow. The connector is designed to provide up to 64 high-speed differential pairs per inch.


 


Building on their extensive line of high-density board-to-board connectors, Samtec has continued to bring new options to design engineers. SAMTEC offers several newer high-density board-to-board and board-to-cable interconnect systems, including their Q-Rate, Edge Rate, SEARAY, and IsoRate connectors.

The Razor Beam LSS Series hermaphroditic mezzanine connector features contacts on 0.635mm pitch, and is rated to 10 Ghz in single-ended applications. These interconnect systems combine high speed and density in mezzanine, daughtercard, and coax-to-PCB applications.


 




The 3M Ultra Hard Metric (UHM) socket connector was introduced in 2008, and has recently been selected for the upcoming PICMG 2.30 CompactPCI PlusIO standard. This connector is backward-compatible with current CompactPCI backplane connectors, while offering performance upgrades of up to 7 Gb/s.

 

Demand for high-density/low-cost interconnects in portable consumer products, including mobile Internet-enabled phones, digital cameras, disk drives, and video displays, is driving the introduction of new, low-profile, small centerline, flex circuit connectors.


FCI Electronics has rapidly expanded their product offering to support this market, and now offers a total of 22 product series in this segment. Contact centerlines include 1mm, 0.8mm, 0.5mm, 0.4mm, and 0.3mm for maximum signal density, and are offered in standard, low force, and zero insertion force configurations. Shielded configurations are also available.

  


JST offers their FVW Series connector, which features contacts on 0.2mm pitch.

Additional connector manufacturers, including Hirose and AVX, are adding to their FFC/FPC product lines.

The evolution of computer automation and wireless communications is resulting in more electronic systems being installed in harsh environments. Equipment designed for industrial control, cellphone towers, under–the-hood automotive, solar and wind energy generation, and medical applications often use industry standard input/out connectors that were originally designed for benign environments. In order to insure reliability, these interfaces must be protected from weather, dust, corrosive gasses, salt spray, aggressive cleaning processes, and heavy-handed field repair personnel. Many connector suppliers continue to introduce standard interfaces with environmentally-resistant properties to address these requirements.

Standard interfaces—Industrial Ethernet, Interbus, Device Net, D-subminiatures, USB, and Firewire—are now available constructed of metal or durable plastic, with a covered, moisture-proof sealing system.



 

  



 



The Tyco Electronics’ CFP MSA is an example of an effort to define the form factor for a pluggable optical transceiver to support next generation high-speed Ethernet in telecom and data center applications.

The industry continues to anticipate I/O bandwidth to grow into the 40 to 100 Gb/s arena in the near future. Major players are positioning themselves to develop interfaces that can support these speeds.
 


 



Data center applications using QDR Infiniband or 100 gigabit Ethernet links can utilize the CXP 12X interconnect system that allows both copper and fiber pluggable options in a high-density package.

These new interfaces combine high-performance and increased port density; essential attributes to support next-generation equipment.


In addition to these recently released interconnect systems, connector manufacturers continue to adjust to the ongoing evolution of the industry, adapting to trends such as: 

  1. Licensing of second sources of high-performance interfaces, often to direct competitors

  2. Potential impact of differential pair impedance transition, from 100 to 85 ohms

  3. Interest in orthogonal midplane connectors

  4. Proliferation of industry standards

  5. Market growth of Internet-enabled portable devices

  6. Migration of engineering, as well as manufacturing functions, to offshore locations

  7. Increasing demand for proficiency in signal integrity analysis and support

  8. Impact of wireless standards that can reduce the need for peripheral device cables

  9. Interest in connectors that offer greater power transmission efficiency

  10. Control of advanced intellectual property in an aggressively competitive global market

  11. Proliferation of environmental mandates

  12. Wide swings in commodity prices for copper, gold, and plastic materials

  13. Shrinking cost differential between copper and fiber optic options in I/O applications

  14. The development of high-performance, one-piece edge connectors to meet demand for connectors that are smaller, faster, and cheaper than previous models

 Bishop & Associates Comments:

  1. In spite of a deep recession, 2009 proved to be a particularly prolific year for the development and introduction of new interconnect systems.

  2. New interfaces introduced this year were likely the result of prior years’ development work. The industry may find it difficult to maintain the same pace in 2010 with reduced resources.

  3. The goals of 10 Gb/s channels with a reach to 40 and 100 Gb/s appear to be driving the industry to develop new interfaces to support these objectives.

  4. Higher system packaging density, along with increased demand for power, is driving the introduction of higher conductivity alloys and connector designs that facilitate thermal management at the system level.

  5. Fiber optic I/O interfaces are becoming increasingly competitive in shorter reach applications.

Robert Hult
Director of Product Technology, Bishop & Associates, Inc.
Robert Hult has been in the connector industry for more than 36 years. Hult began his career as a sales engineer for Amphenol. He joined AMP in 1972 and served in several management positions through 1996. In 1997, Hult joined Foxconn as group marketing manager for Intel in Chandler, Arizona, USA. Prior to joining Bishop & Associates, Hult was the regional application engineering manager for Tyco Electronics.

Hult graduated in 1968 from Bradley University with a Bachelor of Science degree in electronics technology and a minor in business.


 
 
 

Bishop & Associates, Inc. © 2010