With a record-breaking number of exhibitors, this year’s International Microwave Symposium featured state-of-the-art developments in RF, microwave, and millimeter-wave products.   The International Microwave Symposium presented by the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) is the premier International event for microwave theory and practice. In addition to the flagship IMS Conference, “Microwave Week 2015”Read More

Amphenol has made a binding offer to Bain Capital for FCI Asia, which will be the company’s second acquisition this year. Amphenol Corporation has made a binding offer to of $1.275 billion to Bain Capital for Singapore-based FCI Asia Pte. Ltd. The acquisition, which will be financed with cash and debt, is expected to closeRead More

The news briefs for June 23, 2015 include new company leaders, a plethora of distributor recognition, and service- and product-related announcements geared to better serve connector customers. Mouser Electronics announced the opening of a Japan Customer Service Center, located in Tokyo. Mouser will provide customer service and local technical support as it establishes a deeperRead More

With pervasive connectivity, powerful features emerge that change the entire automotive ecosystem in the connected car. In recent years, in-car systems have been supplemented by basic Internet connectivity, allowing drivers and passengers to remain “plugged in” to the business and social networks they take for granted when at home or in the office. But whatRead More

Traditional wiring approaches for automotive electronics can be unwieldy, driving up vehicle weight, costs, and complexity, without commensurately driving up value. Molex explains the five levels of interconnect technology advancement in the era of digital cars.   Electronics make nearly every vehicle feature a reality. Popular automotive infotainment, integrated smart phone connectivity, turn-by-turn navigation, and driver-assist applications are pushingRead More

The growing importance of the relationship between sensors and interconnects is fully evidenced in automotive safety systems, which require reliable, durable cable assemblies, according to Pete Doyon of Schleuniger.   As a young boy in the ’60s, my brother, sister, and I would stand on the rear seat of Dad’s Oldsmobile and hang onto theRead More

Today’s cars include sophisticated networks that control safety, entertainment, and communication in addition to vehicle performance, and all these systems need to talk to each other. Here, we look at how to specify an in-vehicle network connector.   Today’s vehicles increasingly employ sophisticated networks to control a number of vehicle functions, ranging from engine controlRead More

Any change to a connector design can cause undesirable and unanticipated results. In order to manage the risks associated with design changes, a well-established and effective process is required.   There are many possible motivations for changing the design of a connector. Typically these would include: Need for enhanced performance by a specific customer or theRead More

Bishop & Associates has wrapped up its 2015 customer survey of electronic distributors. In the first of two articles, we reveal the distributors rated best in breadth of product, support, ease of doing business, and delivery.   Bishop & Associates just concluded its annual survey of electronic distributors in which it asked connector and cable assemblyRead More

With industrial market sector sales flat in 2014, it’s not surprising that sales across the sector tumbled in the first quarter of 2015.   Bishop tracks 12 companies in the industrial market sector. These companies’ combined sales contracted year over year in the last three quarters ending with 1Q15. In 2013, these companies grew 0.1%Read More

The process of choosing the right electrical connector isn’t always black and white, and here Remke examines one of the most important connector decisions: Should you go with a stock connector or a custom option?   The process of choosing the right electrical connector for your application isn’t black and white, and neither are theRead More

Cable splices are a necessary evil in designing and installing a communications network, particularly in an industrial setting, so let’s take a look at safe fiber optic splicing techniques.     In a perfect world, a fiber optic installation would consist of long, continuous cable runs from one destination to another. However, in the realRead More