Collective 'slimming' connector miniaturization development

With the development of electronic devices towards higher transmission speeds and miniaturization, connectors are also following this trend. Therefore, connector products suitable for various portable/wireless electronic devices, such as chip connectors, fiber optic connectors, IEEE1394 and USB2.0 high-speed connectors, wired broadband connectors, and micro pitch connectors, are expected to become star products in the future. On the other hand, with the rapid growth of China's consumer electronics, network design, and communication terminal product production, as well as the continuous transfer of global connector production capacity to China, China has become the fastest-growing and largest market for connectors in the world.

Danny Boesing, Marketing Manager of Samtec, pointed out that "Samtec has always been committed to promoting the development of connector products. We believe that miniaturization, high speed, and high current are the major trends in the future development of connector products." Samtec is a leading global manufacturer of printed circuit board connectors, committed to providing a variety of high-speed, high-density, and micro connector solutions. In addition, it also manufactures micro coaxial cables, double stranded cables, and impedance controllable multi-layer flexible circuit boards. The company currently has products with a foot spacing of 0.5mm or even smaller, and can provide cables as small as 42AWG and flexible circuit boards with a wire spacing of 0.002 inches. The stacking height of flexible boards ranges from 0.5mm to 0.20 inches and above. Molex has also recently launched two new series of patch type right angle FPC connectors for mobile phones, digital cameras, and other small applications. It is reported that the 501461 series of 0.50mm pitch FPC connectors offer a height of only 0.80mm and a depth of 3.20mm, making them the shortest and smallest connectors among all similar models currently on the market. This bottom contact connector has a specification of 4 to 8 circuits, with a rated current and voltage of 0.3A and 50V, and can be used for 0.12mm thick FPC cables. It features a unique BackFlip fixture for easy insertion and removal of cables in tight spaces, as well as strong FPC cable clamping force. The second product is the 500797 series: a 0.30mm pitch bottom contact FPC connector with a height of 1.05mm. It has specifications of 11 to 51 circuits, rated current and voltage of 0.2A and 50V, and can accommodate 0.20mm thick FPC cables. This series features a terminal design that provides reactive force, resulting in high cable clamping force, ensuring FPC stability even during cable insertion and removal. In response to the growing demand for high-speed interconnect technology in the market, Molex has also launched an AMC.0B+connector for 12.5Gbps NRZ signal transmission. According to David Stevenson, the product manager of the company, the AMC.0B+connector adopts the AdvancedTCA standard specification, which improves reliability, ease of management, and applicability, allowing this innovative product to enable high-speed serial interconnection of advanced carrier grade devices through hot plugging. Moreover, AMC.0B+has the optimal size for high-speed data transmission. This enhanced size further reduces crosstalk by managing inter pair mating and incorporating additional grounding holes for insulation. Therefore, the crosstalk of this connector is less than 3% at 12.5Gbps, demonstrating outstanding signal integrity.