Samtec FireFly™ mid-board optical cable systems boast the industry’s leading miniature footprint, enabling maximum signal density, and of course signal integrity over longer distances. That's a good thing because designers are facing longer-reach applications, increasing bandwidths, and tighter spaces. FireFly™ mid-board optical cable assemblies provide high-performance versatility for data rates up to 28 Gbps per channel. The miniature footprint allows for higher density and closer proximity … [Read more...]
Manufacturing Variation: It’s Our Job To Find The Hidden Enemy
Manufacturing high-end electronics is difficult. Making a one-time sample for a demonstration or prototype can be challenging, but the real challenge is finding out how to make it consistently and in a profitable manner. That's what Aaron Tucker, Samtec's Director of Engineering - New Ventures (R&D), said during a recent presentation about the challenges of producing high-density, microminiature connectors. Most of his discussion focused on reducing manufacturing variability. I later … [Read more...]
Benefits of Edge Card Connectors: Let Me Count The Ways
Benefits of Edge Card Sockets Whereas most Samtec board-to-board connectors are two-piece systems, edge card connectors provide an interface between two boards with just one connector. There are several reasons why a designer may choose an edge card socket over a two-piece system. First, edge card connectors are great for modular designs; designers can easily upgrade or configure their system by swapping out the board. Also, they make it easy to plug and unplug a mating card that … [Read more...]
Bishop and Associates: The Impact of China and COVID-19
I get dizzy when I think about the changes that took place in the connector industry in the last decade or so. New technologies, industries, processes, markets, products, and systems, from AI, to EV, to 5G, to robotics, to the cloud, to globalization, to exploding data rates, and to infinity and beyond. Two major changes in the world of connectors were the explosion of manufacturing in China, and more recently, COVID-19's impact on the industry. Who better than our friend Ron Bishop, of … [Read more...]
Discrete Wire Cable Assemblies: An Overview and Quick Tutorial
The worldwide cable assembly market is expected to hit $218.6 billion in 2023. The Automotive and Telecom industries are the two largest markets for cable assemblies, and China and North America are the two largest manufacturing regions. Interestingly, application-specific (i.e., custom) and rectangular assemblies are the two largest product groups. (1) Two of the most popular types of cable assemblies are discrete wire and insulation displacement contact (IDC) systems. Here’s a link to … [Read more...]
Samtec Cares Awards $615,000 in Grants To Local Non-Profits
Throughout its history, Samtec has gladly supported charities, events, and causes, and encouraged associates worldwide to be involved in our local communities. In addition, we routinely host donation drives and invite non-profits into our various facilities to learn more about their missions and ways we can help. The crown jewel in our community efforts is the Samtec Cares Grant Program. Samtec Cares was created to positively impact and assist organizations within the communities in … [Read more...]
Bishop European Customer Survey: Samtec #1 Again, 12th Time
Samtec has once again won the Bishop and Associates “European Customer Survey of the Electronic Connector Industry.” This is the 12th time that Samtec is ranked #1 in Europe. The last Bishop European Customer Service Survey was completed just before Covid-19. To win this survey again, in such a convoluted supply chain environment during the Covid chaos, and in such a convincing manner, is a testimony to Samtec associates worldwide who make Samtec Sudden Service® a reality. By the way, we … [Read more...]
Samtec Opens New Taiwan Design Center
Samtec recently celebrated the grand opening of our new design and manufacturing center in Taiwan. The Taiwan Design Center will design (obviously), develop, and build leading-edge connector products for multiple industries, including datacom, telecom, artificial intelligence and machine learning, test and measurement, industrial, and medical. The state-of-the-art 70,000-square-foot facility (6,503 square meters) consists of three floors of manufacturing, new product development and … [Read more...]
When 50 Ohms Isn’t Really 50 Ohms
Another possible title for this blog was "I Designed A 50 Ω Transmission Path; Why is My Return Loss or VSWR Higher Than Expected?" Another was "Maintaining 50 Ohms In A Channel Is Trickier Than It Looks." Hopefully, you understand the main point we're trying to make. This blog is a summary of a seminar by Samtec's Michael Griesi, presented at IMS 2023. For those of you who weren't able to attend, a video of the full presentation is above. In the meantime, here's an overview of what Michael … [Read more...]
Living On The Edge Rate
Edge Rate® is one of Samtec's most popular high-speed, high-bandwidth interconnect systems. Edge Rate is both the name of the pin and in this case, it’s also a product family. Edge Rate Contact Design Let’s begin with the contact system because that’s the star of the show. With some connectors, the mating edge of the contact is the cut edge of the pin. If you look at the edge under a microscope you may see micro burrs and edges. This reduces the life of the connector because … [Read more...]
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