56. 112. 224. SI/PI! For a lot of Americans, that sounds like the pre-snap play call or audible of a quarterback in North American-style football games. After watching football Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, that's where my brain is as well. However, for those of us in the high-speed connectivity industry, those numbers refer to the speed markers in channel data rates we work with everyday. An embedded engineer implementing a 56 Gbps PAM4 transceiver design. A mechanical engineer … [Read more...]
New ChalkTalk Features 56 Gbps PAM4 Interconnects for FPGA Applications
FPGAs, SoCs and other flexible, configurable and reprogrammable compute engines are redefining embedded computing architectures. While prevalent in Data Centers, ASIC Emulation, and High-Performance Computing, FPGAs are the beating electronic hearts of many emerging Transportation, Medical Imaging, Process Automation and Industrial Vision embedded computing applications. In many FPGA-based designs, the choice of a connector solution can be a crucial element in your system design. The … [Read more...]
Samtec Exhibits at Embedded World 2020
The global outbreak of the novel coronavirus is affecting many aspects of life. COVID-19 has even affected the electronic components trade show industry. In recent weeks, the Mobile World Congress, electronica Shanghai and other events have been canceled. Other events, like next week's Embedded World 2020, are still on. However, many exhibitors are choosing not to attend trade shows out of caution. For Embedded World 2020 specifically, the local Samtec team will be at the show in … [Read more...]
SC19: Samtec Launches New 56/112 Gbps PAM4 Demos
Scientists, researchers, and data analysts from academia, industry and government agencies will be center stage at SC19 next week in Denver. SC19 is the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis. Next-generation high-performance copper and optical interconnects must solve multiple technical challenges including higher data rates, increased system and chassis density and improved signal integrity. Samtec’s diverse product and technology … [Read more...]
New 112 Gbps PAM4 NovaRay™ SI Eval Kit Featured at Keysight Event
"112 Gbps PAM4 data rates will save the world!" A reader of the Samtec blog may think that. Why? The demand for data never ceases. A recent report says that US teenagers spend seven hours a day in front of screens. But how real are 112 Gbps PAM4 data rates? Test silicon is available from a few SerDes and FPGA vendors. Production silicon is at least 18 months away. However, 112 Gbps PAM4 data rate system design and testing are already underway. The SI requirements for next-gen … [Read more...]
ICYMI: High-Performance Communications, Delivered
ICYMI. Doesn't that immediately induce fear of missing out? Oh wait, that's another acronym. FOMO. Yikes. In any case, technical experts from Samtec, eSilicon and Wild River Technology recently co-presented a webinar around the topic of High-Performance Communications, Delivered. High-Performance Communications, Delivered The webinar highlighted technical challenges system designers and engineers face on the way to 56 Gbps/112 Gbps PAM 4 data rates. What are some of those … [Read more...]
The Engineer’s Cheese Sandwich
Design engineers are the heroes of the electronics industry. Responsible for creating everything from cell phones to satellites, it is the creativity of designers that drives the modern world. Engineers must respond to a specification. This is where the life of a design engineer becomes a little difficult. In an ideal world, a design specification should be clear and detailed, but I'm afraid that sometimes our design engineer might be given instructions that are less than … [Read more...]
TI and Samtec Demo 56 Gbps PAM4 over Backplane at DesignCon 2018
Next-gen speeds were all the buzz at DesignCon this week at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Silicon Valley. Vendors from across the industry were showcasing their latest solutions: semiconductors, connectors, test and measurement, EDA, etc. One popular solution was backplane connectors and applications. Faster speeds and new backplane system architectures were front-and-center in many of the DesignCon booths. TI/Samtec 56Gbps PAM4 Backplane Demo TI and Samtec partnered on a … [Read more...]