In the Standards world, specifications are categorized to three ascending levels: Corporate, De Facto, and Industry Standard. Corporate Standards are achieved when design elements are adopted company-wide. De Facto Standards often grow out of a Corporate Standard to act as a solution in a common industry (like using micro-USB in Android phones).
Industry Standards are formal specifications produced by a body of participants assembled to narrow variations on a precise application. The purpose is improved compatibility, performance, and efficiency. Achieving these goals requires consensus within a diverse group of participants, and as a result, greater research and time are necessary.
As a connector company, Samtec provides products that interact with many types of hardware and software. This drives our need to adhere to a variety of Industry Standards. The majority of Industry Standards we engage address:
- Transmission protocols (primarily software & firmware defining machine language to allow communication)
- Hardware (physical electro-mechanical devices)
- Interconnection (cables & connectors)
- Sub-systems (typically daughter or carrier cards which include functional compliance specifications defining electro-mechanicals & mechanicals)
As a result of being involved in such a broad range of Standards, our web pages needed to emphasize this participation and growth.
Out with the Old…
Although our previous page did contain a wealth of information, at times, it could be confusing to find. At times, the giant list of Standards/Protocols could prove to be overwhelming and difficult to navigate, especially if you are looking for one specific part or Standard family.
Many of these Standards featured “Data Rates” which may have changed with the updating of the spec or be influenced by system layout. Hence, to avoid any misdirection, these were removed.
Additionally, the old page didn’t feature any graphics or artwork. Often, our customers will not know a specific part number or series, but just by seeing a connector or cable graphic, know that they found what they are looking for.
And in with the New!
The new Standards page set out to address these issues and much more in our latest revamp. Some of the new features you will notice include:
Updated GUI
This new page format closely follows the model we employed on our VITA homepage. Instead of having to scroll down the entire page to find the desired Standard family, a new categorized ribbon lets you jump right to the section you are looking for.
New Graphics Header
It can be difficult to be drawn to a page that is all text. One of the biggest improvement for our new page is the addition of graphics. These are prominently displayed in the header showing a variety of Standards we participate in from VITA to PCIe.
Detailed Descriptions
With so many different technologies overlapping, it can be difficult to discern what type of Standard fits the bill? Brief and clear descriptions have bee provided for each of our four categories as well as to our approach to Industry Standards as a whole.
Refined Standard Families
With Samtec’s 40+ years in the connector industry, we have been involved with a variety of Standards over the years. The same is true today. However, we wanted to make sure that the information presented in this new format was as up-to-date as possible. Over time, many Standards may lose interest, funding or even become obsolete.
As a result, we took the time to review all of our Standard part offerings to see what Standards are most relevant to Samtec and presented them on the new page. This cuts down on misleading information and dead links.
Future Updates
Within the next couple weeks, we are looking to add even more updates to this new landing page as well as several others such as:
- Refined formatting for each Standard Category
- Additional graphics/descriptions of each family for easier identification
- Individualized homepages for some of our smaller Standards such as PISMO and SMPTE
Later in the year, we will be rolling out two other landing pages to complement our Standards efforts:
- Protocols – This page will be dedicated entirely to Transmission Protocols that we participate in and support.
- Standards Membership – Not all of the Standards we participate in feature specific products. This page will be dedicated to highlighting all of the Industry Standards we are members of to date.
Additional Resources
For additional support, please visit contact the groups below.