Molex (NASDAQ: MOLX) recently launched its Impact 100-Ohm orthogonal direct connector system designed for a direct connection of printed circuit boards using the same daughtercard. Featuring options of 3-through 6-pair, the company says its Impact orthogonal direct technology supports high-speed 25 Gbps data rates and substantially eliminates airflow, cross-talk, and capacitance constraints in high-speed channels which are introduced through current backplane / midplane laminates.
“The direct connector solution leverages the density, signal integrity and high-speed advantages of Impact technology, without added cost and press-fit assembly,” explains Pete Soupir, new product development manager, Molex. “The space saving combination of the direct right-angle male connector and daughtercard simplifies component management for our manufacturing customers and enhances performance in data, telecommunications, medical, networking and other high-speed devices.”
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The Molex Impact orthogonal direct connectors feature two compliant-pin attach options and 18 to 72 differential pairs per orthogonal node. The 3-through 6-pair configurations include a complete range of options for the PCB and mating interface. The system leverages the field-proven Impact mating interface, which the company claims offers the lowest mating force in the backplane industry, and patented compliant-pin technology to provide design flexibility and balance for superior mechanical and electrical performance.
Designed to meet IEEE 10GBASE-KR and Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) Stat Eye Compliant channel performance requirements, Molex says the Impact orthogonal direct connector system ensures end-to-end compliance. Featuring shorter line cards and switch-module signal paths, the simple 2.15 by 1.35mm grid on both the Impact backplane and daughtercard is designed to reduce PCB routing complexity and costs.
“Customers gain additional electrical margin in their high-performance systems to run 25 Gbps+ more cleanly and mitigate the potential for bit error rates,” adds Soupir. “The broad-edge-coupled differential-pair Impact orthogonal direct architecture improves airflow and delivers more robust signal across all high-speed channels compared with typical routed backplane connections.”
The Impact 100-Ohm orthogonal direct connector system is backward compatible with previously released Molex Impact orthogonal midplane daughtercard receptacles. For technical specifications, visit www.molex.com/link/impactorthodirect.html.
