Integration. Integration. Integration. More and more SoCs from the leading semiconductor manufacturers have just about everything but the kitchen sink in their devices. Some of these options include MCU cores, programmable logic, wired and wireless connectivity, memory controllers and high-performance serial communication interfaces. While Xilinx and Altera continue to dominate the SoC/FPGA market, MicroSemi continues to launch innovative, niche solutions. The … [Read more...]
New Augmented Reality App Available For iPhone and iPad Air
Samtec Reality, Samtec's augmented reality app, is now compatible with both iPhones (iPhone 5 and above) and any iPad Air. It is free as an App Store download. This app highlights the intricate design of our ExaMAX® high-speed backplane system by allowing you to examine and manipulate detailed 3D product images on your iPhone or iPad Air. It's real-time, in your environment. How Does It Work? Click on the target image below and printDownload the app from the App Store … [Read more...]
Bulls Eye® Test Point Solutions Ease Transceiver Characterization
Semiconductor manufacturers are always looking for the best interconnect solution to characterize the high-speed transceivers found on their FPGAs, ASICs and ASSPs. Typically, PCB-mount SMA connectors have been used to breakout the differential transmit and receive signals found in modern transceivers. Below is a Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA SP623 Characterization Kit which features a number of PCB-mount SMA connectors. This approach worked for decades. Transceiver counts per IC … [Read more...]
The High Speed Camera Never Lies (Neither Does The Frame Grabber Or Software …)
I caught up with Chuck Petersen, Vice President at Epix Inc. Epix designs and manufactures high speed cameras, frame grabbers (boards that are installed into computer slots for image capture from a camera), and software for image capture and processing. The typical Epix customer uses these products for manufacturing assembly line inspections, but they are used in a variety of applications from microscopy to astronomy. Epix just introduced three new versions of the PIXCI® EB1mini, a … [Read more...]
A Look Inside Samtec’s High Speed Cable Tech Center
Check out the new Samtec Cable Group Tech Center video. It’s an overview of the Samtec Cable Group, our R&D and manufacturing Technology Center focusing on precision extruded micro coax and twinax cable used for high speed / high density cable assemblies, including 26-38 AWG, 50/75/85/100 ohm impedance, and systems rated at 28+ Gbps. Cable Options Samtec Cable Group offers a variety of center conductor, dielectric, shielding, and jacket options. Center conductor options include … [Read more...]
Samtec and Amphenol® Aerospace Partner to Address the Growing Need for Rugged Optics
Samtec and Amphenol® Aerospace recently announced a partnership to incorporate Samtec’s FireFly™ optical cable platform with Amphenol® Aerospace’s bulkhead interconnects for rugged optic solutions. Click here to read the official press release. FireFly™ Samtec’s FireFly™ is a mid-board cable and optical interconnect system. FireFly™ is incredibly dense, and it enables chip-to-chip, board-to-board, and system-to-board connectivity using the same connector system for both copper … [Read more...]
Impact Conference: Next Generation High Speed Data Transfer Rates
Scott McMorrow is speaking at the Impact Conference (Boards, Chips and Packaging: Designing To Maximize Benefits) on Tuesday, October 13th. He and a panel of experts are discussing Next Generation High Speed Data Transfer Rates. Quick Overview Of The Discussion The need for more bandwidth is continuing to drive the Internet infrastructure. Rapid growth of server, network and internet traffic is fueling the need for higher data rates. Key contributors to data demand … [Read more...]
Strike Up The Bandwidth Beyond 28 Gbps
Here is a link to an EDN article you need to read. Scott McMorrow, R&D Consultant for Teraspeed® Consulting (a division of Samtec), discusses the migration of high-speed data transfer rates to 28 Gbps and beyond. Here's a quick synopsis. We Can Barely Get To 56 Gbps With Today's Materials It’s hard to give an overview to such an insightful article, but I’ll try to give a quick recap: First, although many in the industry are successfully achieving information transfer rates … [Read more...]
Dense, Rugged, and Fast: This Is A Cable Assembly, Not Your Daughter’s Boyfriend
Samtec’s new SEARAY™ 0.80 mm pitch ultra-high density array cable assemblies provide 50% board space savings compared to 1.27 mm pitch systems. With performance to 15 Gbps and up to 300 total Edge Rate® contacts, this cable system is designed for rugged high speed applications where space is limited. High Speed Cable Assembly SEARAY™ 0.80 mm pitch array cable assembly -- the ESCA Series -- offers 50Ω single ended signal routing on 34 AWG micro ribbon coax cable, and it supports PCIe® … [Read more...]
New SEARAY™ High Density Press Fit Right Angle Socket
Samtec’s SEARAY™ high density, high-speed array interconnect is now available in a right angle, press-fit design. SEARAY™ The SEARAY™ high speed array system is a 1.27 mm pitch open pin field array for maximum grounding and routing flexibility. It is available with up to 500 I/Os, and the rugged Edge Rate® contact has low insertion and withdrawal forces to simplify pcb handling. SEARAY® is an Extended Life Product™ (ELP) and has passed 10 year mixed flowing gas (MFG) and high … [Read more...]