Wire-to-board connectors have been around for decades. They evolved as a solution for easier manufacturing in modern electronics versus legacy terminations such as soldering wires directly to the board. Standard .100” (2.54mm) pitch wire-to-board socket and headers can be found in many industrial and transportation applications for both signaling and power. The PC revolution on the 1980s and 1990s pioneered IDC systems linking hard drives, power suppliers and other I/O devices … [Read more...]
Samtec Releases Twinax Flyover Application Design Guide
The march to faster data rates never seems to stop. Communications protocols used in the data center provide the proof. Fiber Channel signals can run up to 32 Gbps. 25G Ethernet 802.3bj and Ethernet 100G signals can run up to 25Gbps. InfiniBand EDR 104G serial channels support 26 Gbps data rates. This presents engineers of high-speed serial channels with a number of PCB design challenges. Some of the key limitations of PCBs running at 28+ Gbps include trace … [Read more...]
Samtec Updates Broadcast Video Solution Guide
Streaming HD video and 4K/8K UHDTV are just two examples of a continuing evolution in video signaling. Video has transformed from being an analog 6 MHz bandwidth signal to a 12 Gbps digital data stream. As signaling has transitioned into the digital domain, first in SD and HD formats, and recently at 6 Gbps and 12 Gbps 4K UHD-SDI standards, the demand for meeting stringent return loss requirements up to 12 GHz has emerged. Samtec offers a full line of high-speed board-to-board and RF … [Read more...]
High Speed Signal Transfer Rates At 28 Gbps (OFC 2016)
In this video, Kevin Burt, of the Samtec Optical Group, discusses another demonstration from OFC 2016. This is a system level demonstration of high speed signal transfer rates at 28Gbps, FireFly™ high speed optical links at 28 Gbps, and signal quality performance of ExaMAX® backplane connector. Kevin discusses the advantages of the industry's first Flyover QSFP28 (FQSFP) System. This approach removes signals from their traditional pathways—copper traces … [Read more...]
Samtec Exhibits at 2016 NAB Show in Las Vegas
One of the biggest tradeshows in entertainment and media is NAB Show. It is the world’s largest annual conference and expo for professionals who create, manage, and distribute entertainment across all platforms At this year’s event in Las Vegas, Samtec will feature a variety of interconnect solutions targeted at the broadcast video market. These include mid-board and panel mount optical systems based on FireFly™ , True75TM 75Ω RF Systems, full turnkey RF cable assemblies, and … [Read more...]
Samtec and One Stop Systems Help Detect Gravity Waves
The scientific community recently was abuzz as the existence of gravitational waves has been confirmed. Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitation waves 100 years ago with his general theory of relativity. Do you still remember E=mc2? You better! Gravitation waves are ripples in the spacetime continuum that provide scientists with details about this history of the cosmos. They are produced by cosmic events such as the combining of two black holes. While … [Read more...]
Samtec Expands Optical Product Portfolio
Readers of the Samtec blog know how excited we get talking about our FireFly™ Micro Flyover System™ and the optical engine technology included in FireFly. Sometimes we forget to talk about our other optical products. In recent weeks, Samtec has added to our repertoire of optical product offerings via some product line extensions and new releases. These include the following three product families: PCIEO-4G3, FOPC and OPA. PCIEO-4G3 Option for Active Optical Cable … [Read more...]
High Speed, High Density Right Angle Socket Array Saves 50 Percent Board Space
Samtec’s new high speed, high density right angle socket array - SEARAY™ 0.80 mm pitch - is ideal for perpendicular board-to-board and micro backplane applications with up to 50 percent board space savings compared to .050" (1.27 mm) pitch SEARAY™ interconnects. The open pin field design allows for maximum grounding and routing flexibility with up to 500 total Edge Rate® contacts. This ultra high density right angle socket array (SEAF8-RA Series) features: a choice of 8 or 10 … [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...]