DesignCon 2017 is next week in San Jose, California. If you’re going to be there, here are 7 reasons to visit us at booth 717. They’re all good reasons, and #5 is really cool, but it may not actually blow your mind. Sorry.
Like me, you’ve probably seen the “sponsored articles” at the bottom of other websites. I read some research that people like to read lists, and making some kind of outlandish prediction about one of the items further improves SEO. So I succumbed to the pressure and cheapened our blog for the sake of ratings. Ugh …
But, hopefully you’ll keep reading this anyway, because we really do have a lot of cool stuff at DesignCon.
1. Paper: QSFP28 For 56+ Gbps
Jim Nadolny, Samtec’s Director of Signal Integrity, will be presenting a 45-minute technical paper session covering “Design of Flyover QSFP28 (FQSFP Series) for 56+ Gbps Applications.” This white paper presentation will demonstrate how Samtec achieved at least four times lower trace insertion loss with FQSFP for 56+ Gbps applications by replacing typical PCB trace based QSFP with flyover twinax cables to connect the receiver circuit to the port.
2. Product Demo: PCIe®Gen 3 With FireFly™
The product demonstration will showcase a disaggregated computing platform with PCIe® Gen 3 fabric enabled by the patented FireFly™ mid-board technology. By using PCIe®-over-Fiber, storage and GPU can be located 100 meters away, demonstrating the opportunity for new HPC/Data Center architectures that benefit from the high-performance, low latency that the PCIe® protocol enables.
3. FQSFP
Samtec’s flyover QSFP28 cable assembly (FQSFP Series) achieves 28 Gbps performance and is backward compatible with all QSFP assemblies. This direct attach system, with press-fit tails that provide low speed signals and power to the PCB, allows drivers to be remotely located for design flexibility and greater control over thermal cooling. Signal integrity is optimized by flying critical data over lossy PCB via Samtec’s ultra-low skew pair twinax cable with inherently lower attenuation. Re-timers are not required reducing cost and power consumption.
4. ExaMAX®High-Speed Backplane
ExaMAX® high-speed backplane system (EBTM/EBTF-RA Series) enables 28 Gbps performance on a 2.00 mm column pitch with a roadmap to 56 Gbps. This rugged system has the industry’s lowest mating force with excellent normal force, a 2.4 mm contact wipe and two points of contact for high reliability. Among other industry specifications, ExaMAX® exceeds OIF CEI-28G-LR for 28 Gbps standards and meets the Telcordia GR-1217 CORE specification. The roadmap for ExaMAX® products includes cable, direct mate orthogonal, mid-plane orthogonal and coplanar.
5. Glass Core Technology
Glass Core Technology (GCT) is a proprietary process for the metalization and hermetic sealing of through-glass vias, which enables the use of high-performance glass substrates. GCT achieves maximum functionality in a significantly smaller footprint with glass-based IC packages, modules, and components, as compared to traditional IC packaging substrates.
6. Edge Rate® HD
Edge Rate® HD – Samtec’s new 0.635 mm pitch, high-speed, multi-row strip – packages the same reliable contact system and ease of processing found in the SEARAY™ family in an even smaller and higher-density strip design. With both the four-row (5 mm wide) and two-row (2.5 mm wide; in development) versions capable of supporting 28+ Gbps applications, as well as multiple next-generation protocols, Edge Rate® HD (EDM6/EDF6 Series) is the future of high-speed strips at Samtec, and in the industry.
7. x4 Duplex 28 Gbps FireFly™
Samtec’s x4 duplex 28 Gbps FireFly™ optical engine (ECUO Series) brings its industry-leading density to the 100 Gbps Datacom/Telecom and HPC markets. Designed with thermal optimization in mind, options are available for both forced air and cold plate cooling scenarios. The integral dual-band CDR was designed to work with the latest Ethernet and InfiniBand™ protocol specifications. This x4 duplex architecture, while offering an extremely small footprint on the board, makes FireFly™ ideal for communications within a rack, or between racks.
The DesignCon 2017 conference and exhibition is at the Santa Clara Convention Center, January 31 – February 2.
