Tag: CONNECTOR

Introduction and Applications of ERNI iBridge Ultra Series Connectors

The iBridge Ultra connector family offers extensive Cable-to-Board solutions. It is designed for applications which need reliable and robust connection systems. A TPA (Terminal Position Assurance) retainer serves as a secondary lock for the female contact in the housing. The secondary lock makes the connections particularly resistant against strong vibrations, such as those that occur in an automotive application. iBridge Ultra is not limited to automotive and is a great choice for applications in industrial automation, telecommunications and healthcare.

iBridge Ultra’s compact design supports all applications between control units and local components such as sensors, motors, switches, fans, heating elements, fuses or LEDs.

The connectors from the iBridge Ultra family provide solutions for Cable-to-Board applications. Especially in sensitive systems that require secure and robust connections. They are specifically tailored to the high requirements of the automotive applications. A Terminal Position Assurance inside the housing offers a high level of resistance against strong vibrations. The iBridge Ultra connectors can be used in a large range of temperatures.

A polarity reversal protection plug design prevents errors during installation. At 20 °C, the individual contacts can carry currents of 8 amps. A pitch of just two millimeters ensures a compact plug design and the universal usability at almost any location in the vehicle. For minimum light absorption in LED applications, the housings are natural colors.

The ERNI iBridge Ultra connectors are characterized in particular by their secure hold, their vibration resistance and their excellent ampacity. They are perfect for use in vehicles and for other challenging applications.

Product Sales Overview on the JunctionX Platform:

JunctionX specializes in the professional production, distribution, and sales of connectors/authentic substitute connectors, wire harnesses, cable products, and customized injection-molded parts, stamping parts. If you want to purchase or learn more about product solutions, please feel free to contact us through the following methods.

ERNI MicroStac series connectors provide economical connections for high-current loads

With the hermaphroditic MicroStac connectors, the plug and mating plug are identical. The connectors are available in single-row and double-row variants. They offer economical solutions for connectors with high current rating and low connecting frequency. A secure mating of 1.5 millimeters and the high contact force ensure reliability. MicroStac connectors are suitable for fully automatic SMT loading and available for board-to-board heights of three or five millimeters.

The focus segment of MicroStac connectors is industrial automation. The connectors offer ideal solutions everywhere that economical connections of mating modules with low connecting frequency are called for. Stacked PCBs of various board-to-board spacings can be implemented. The connectors are used, for example, in controls, in drives and in robotics.

Further application possibilities are industrial communication and networking. Tape and reel packaging and integrated suction surfaces ensure economical processing. They allow the fully automatic loading and processing in modern assembly lines with reflow soldering method. Thanks to their reliability and good current carrying capacity, the products are also suitable for demanding applications in measurement technology, medicine and data transmission.

MicroStac connectors are ideally suited for use in cost-sensitive applications, thanks to their hermaphroditic design and small footprint. They can be processed fully automatically and reduce both inventory and manufacturing costs.

Product Sales Overview on the JunctionX Platform:

JunctionX specializes in the professional production, distribution, and sales of connectors/authentic substitute connectors, wire harnesses, cable products, and customized injection-molded parts, stamping parts. If you want to purchase or learn more about product solutions, please feel free to contact us through the following methods.

PCI Express: Is 85 Ohms Really Needed?

Just adding my opinions on this subject based on 20 years of SI work.

100 Ohms was usually a target impedance for most differential signaling (PCIX, SAS, SATA, and a bunch of others.) It made sense to have 2 50-Ohm traces (50 was a good round number for most VNAs, too.

I believe Intel came up with the 85 Ohms target (about 20 years ago) for 2 main reasons.

1. 100 Ohms was had to achieve on PCBs at that time since trace widths were greater than 6 mils usually. To get to 100 Ohms, we used to have to void GND planes under traces to use a secondary GND further away.

2. If you built a receiver with 2 50-Ohm resistors in series (to get your 100 Ohms), you would usually have at least 5 to 10 picoFarads of die capacitance in parallel to each 50 Ohm resistance, which would look closer to 37 to 38 Ohms at the rise times of the new Gbps signals. So, they figured that 85 Ohms would be a better match to the traces.

So, 85 Ohms became the PCIe standard – but it is not that relevant today with smaller die capacitances and 3 mil traces.

As the article states, the loss at 85 Ohms is usually greater than the loss at 100 Ohms for the PCB too, not just the cabling. But that has changed with low-loss dielectrics they didn’t have in 2000 for most commercial PCBs. Yeah, there were exotic materials (Teflon), but only special needs for microwave and military applications could afford to use them.

Add to that HVM (High Volume Manufacturing) of traces on PCBs have historically produced tighter tolerances for 85 rather than 100 Ohms, and sometimes it is better to be consistent (match those impedances) in your design than to achieve an ideal value.

93 Ohms comes about because connectors are difficult to design to get down to 85 Ohms, a mid-target of 93 also allows the connector to be dual-purpose for both 85 and 100 Ohm systems, reducing the cost of making 2 different versions.

It is tempting to select cable impedance to match what is used on the PCB. However there are a couple of anecdotal considerations. First, higher frequency reflections are a greater function of the mating connector impedance than the PCB itself. If an incoming signal experiences an increase from 85 on PCB up to 93 ohms for a given connector, it is best to remain at 93 ohm and not create new reflections by following it with a decrease to 85 ohm cable

Secondly, the relationship between impedance and loss is inverse of the PCB relationship. That is, higher impedance cable has less insertion loss whereas higher impedance PCB would otherwise be more loss. The loss difference between 85 and 100 ohms is as much as 14%, and is explained in the actual geometry of the twinax. This is the experience for Samtec twinax eyespeed cable and may not be the experience for all cable suppliers. 

Ultimately, cable impedance choice depends on the priorities for your system. If insertion loss is the greatest constraint, then 93 or 100 ohm cable is the best choice. 

IDC or Crimp? May The Best Connector Win.

IDC or Crimp? When discussing options for cable assemblies, designers frequently ask if we recommend discrete wire cable assemblies with crimped contacts or insulation displacement connectors (IDC) with ribbon cable. Our answer is it depends on your application. Crimped connectors and IDC are both reliable connector systems and each has its own list of advantages and disadvantages.

“An insulation-displacement contact (IDC), also known as insulation-piercing contact (IPC), is an electrical connector designed to be connected to the conductor(s) of an insulated cable by a connection process which forces a selectively sharpened blade or blades through the insulation, bypassing the need to strip the conductors of insulation before connecting. When properly made, the connector blade cold-welds to the conductor, making a theoretically reliable gas-tight connection.”

DC cable assemblies are available on 1.27 mm pitch, 2.00 mm pitch, and 2.54 mm pitch. Most are double-row connectors, but a few are single row.

“Crimped connectors are a type of solderless connection, using mechanical friction and uniform deformation to secure a connector to a pre-stripped wire (usually stranded). Crimping is used in splice connectors, crimped multipin plugs and sockets, and crimped coaxial connectors. Crimping usually requires a specialised crimping tool …”

Discrete wire connectors come in a variety of centerlines, sizes, shapes, and wiring configurations.

Insulation Displacement Connectors (IDC)

IDC’s are quicker, and therefore less expensive, to manufacture. Literally dozens wires and contacts can be terminated at one time.

The insulation on the wires does not have to be stripped prior to termination, or soldered, or individually crimped. This saves a lot of time and therefore money.

Most IDC’s can be terminated by a basic hand press or other simple tool.  For that matter, generally, much lower forces are required to terminate the ribbon cable to the IDC contacts.

IDC has been around since the 1950’s and is an accepted connector design. It’s so accepted that connector companies offer a large variety of design and manufacturing options. They are available in a variety of wire gauges, pin sizes and centerlines. Mating connectors for the IDC cable assembly incorporate options to increase the ruggedness of the assembly with features like locking clips, ejection latches, strain relief, and polarization, to name just a few.

Assuming you are purchasing your components from a reputable connector supplier (like Samtec!), IDC’s are gas-tight and vibration-proof because of the quality of the design and manufacture of the contacts and plastic insulators which house them.

In the assembly process the metal blades penetrate any surface oxides on the wire.

In our opinion one of the biggest disadvantages of ribbon cable and IDC is the cable is relatively inflexible and stiff, and the cable pretty much has to travel from one point of termination to another in a relatively straight line, or with minimal bends and angles.

Crimped Connectors (Discrete Wire)

Because cable assemblies with crimped connectors almost always incorporate discrete (individual) wires and not ribbon cable, these crimp cable assemblies can fit into some tight areas that ribbon cable can’t. They can bend, angle, and flex into some tight bends and small nooks and crannies. As mentioned previously, IDC cable assemblies pretty much have to go straight ahead and can’t bend. 

Discrete wire assemblies can break-out from a higher pin count connector to several smaller position connectors. You can also do this with IDC, but you have more flexibility and options with crimped connectors.

We frequently pull pins between — in other words, selectively populate — the plastic insulator to meet creepage and clearance requirements.

Like IDC, crimped contact systems are available in a large variety of design and manufacturing options:  a variety of wire gauges, pin sizes, centerlines, latches, and options to increase the ruggedness of the system.

The biggest disadvantage is cost, primarily in assembly and manufacturing time, and tooling and assembly can be more complex.

I’m sure if I thought longer I would come up with more differences between these two systems, but I think we’ve covered the main points.

Product Sales Overview on the JunctionX Platform:

JunctionX specializes in the professional production, distribution, and sales of connectors/authentic substitute connectors, wire harnesses, cable products, and customized injection-molded parts, stamping parts. If you want to purchase or learn more about product solutions, please feel free to contact us through the following methods.