DesignCon is one of my favorite conferences/exhibitions because there is so much going on. DesignCon has the latest state-of-the-art design methodologies, applications, technologies, and tremendous networking opportunities.
Booth 737 — the Samtec booth — is the epicenter of the show; it’s where all of the important people hang-out (that’s why you won’t see me there). I don’t have room to list everything going on at the Samtec booth, so I’ve selected 10 items that I think are the most cool. BTW, they’re not really listed in order of coolness (because there would be too many ties), so I’ll list them as products, live demonstrations, presentations/papers, and tigers.
Products
1. NovaRay™: The innovative design of NovaRay combines extreme density and extreme performance for 112 Gbps PAM4 per channel in 40% less space than traditional arrays. The fully shielded differential pair design and two reliable points of contact contribute to the industry leading 4.0 Tbps aggregate data rate.
2. Samtec Flyover™: As bandwidth requirements rapidly increase, routing signals through lossy PCBs, vias and other components has become one of the most complex challenges designers face. Samtec Flyover breaks the constraints of traditional substrate signaling and hardware offerings, resulting in a cost-effective, high-performance answer to the challenges of 112 Gbps bandwidth and beyond. Reducing thermal challenges, eliminating expensive retimers, fewer PCB layers, and less expensive PCB materials are a few of the advantages of Samtec Flyover.
3. FQSFP-DD: Samtec was the first interconnect company to bring the QSFP Flyover product line to market. Samtec is excited to announce another first in the Flyover realm: Samtec’s FQSFP-DD is the first product to take the Samtec Flyover architecture concept to the QSFP-DD form factor.
4. AcceleRate® and AcceleRate® HD: Samtec’s AcceleRate® cable assembly is the slimmest in the industry with a 7.6 mm body width ideal for closer proximity to the IC. The high-density 2-row design features 8 and 16 pair configurations on a 0.635 mm pitch for up to 92 pairs per square inch.
AcceleRate HD is a 0.635 mm pitch, multi-row interconnect system that provides an ultra-high density interface and next generation bandwidth.
The ADM6, ADF6 Series has up to 400 total I/Os in a mere 1.88 square inches (12.1 square cm) of PCB real estate.
Live Demonstrations
5. 112 Gbps PAM4 Flyover Cable Solution: Samtec’s NovaRay™ to ExaMAX® Cable Assembly offers new capability of 112 Gbps PAM4 while reducing the complexity and cost of high-performance PCB design. A full 112 Gbps PAM4 chip-to-chip channel routes from a Xilinx GTM test chip through multiple Twinax Flyover™ Cable Assemblies, an ExaMAX® Backplane Cable Assembly and back to the Xilinx GTM test chip.
6. 56 Gbps PAM4 Active Product Demonstrator: The 56 Gbps PAM4 Active Product Demonstrator showcases Samtec’s comprehensive portfolio of high-performance interconnect in a typical data center chassis application. It offers a complete system design based on Credo Semiconductor SERDES ICs that measure and display 56 Gbps PAM4 performance over 88 lanes.
7. 112 Gbps PAM4 Samtec Flyover with QSFP-DD: Samtec’s FQSFP-DD to NovaRay Cable Assembly offers a high-density escape from the system ASIC to the front panel. This demo exhibits 112 Gbps PAM4 connectivity via a Credo Pelican II SERDES test board via Samtec’s FQSFP-DD to NovaRay Cable Assembly.
8. Samtec 56 Gbps 5m ExaMAX® Backplane Cable Demonstration: eSilicon and Samtec will demonstrate true long-reach capability by combining eSilicon 56G long-reach 7nm DSP SerDes and Samtec ExaMAX® Backplane Cable Assemblies This new architecture paradigm showcases 56Gbps PAM4 data rates virtually error free (preFEC!) through a 7m backplane cable assembly. The demo offers 2 Tbps aggregate bandwidth in the diameter of an index finger!
Presentations, Papers, Technical Sessions
9. Samtec is presenting in at least 10 Technical Sessions, Panel Discussions, and Tutorials. Here’s a link to Samtec’s Presentations at DesignCon 2019.
Tigers
10. Swing by the Samtec booth, #737, and ask for a stuffed tiger. They’re free while supplies last.
And as long as we’re talking about tigers and Samtec, we’re always asked why the company mascot is a tiger. This blog explains why.
Hope to see you at DesignCon.
