Connectors feature beam-on-beam contact interface

30th January 2014

FCI

Staff Reporter

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Delivering 25Gb/s electrical performance and a migration path to 40Gb/s, the ExaMAX high speed backplane connector family has been announced by FCI. The ExaMAX family has been expanded to accommodate multiple mechanical packaging configurations including traditional mother-daughter board, orthogonal, coplanar, mezzanine, and high speed I/O cabling.

Designers will benefit from faster time to market and lower hardware development costs due to the connectors' scalability. The high speed backplane connectors feature a beam-on-beam contact interface, which minimises the residual stub for improved signal integrity performance and provides a low mating force while maintaining excellent contact normal force.

The backplane and daughter card connectors feature protected hermaphroditic mating interfaces, eliminating the exposed header pin field on the backplane which can be susceptible to damage. Each signal wafer incorporates an innovative one-piece, embossed ground structure to improve crosstalk performance. This simple, functional design contributes to a cost effective solution.

The connector portfolio is available in 2, 3, 4, and 6 pair versions with various column counts. The beam on beam "stubless" mating interface is also available in a family of ExaMEZZ mezzanine packaging configurations. The 2 and 4 pair versions are suitable for 1U packaging commonly found in servers and telecommunication equipment.

FCI has also developed ExaMAX cable connector components for both internal and external 25 Gb/s cables, enabling customers to connect subracks within, or between, chassis up to 6 meters apart.

"We are excited to offer system designers and architects a wide variety of packaging options with superior Signal Integrity performance in a scalable interconnect system. FCI has reached this milestone very quickly." commented Richard Bahou, Portfolio Director for High Speed Backplane and Mezzanine products at FCI Electronics. “ExaMAX and ExaMEZZ connectors will enable our customers to build equipment that is fully compliant with the OIF-25G-LR specification over a backplane channel of 0.686 meters (27") in total length."