IPC has released the PCB industry results for July 2014, showing that the North American PCB business is seeing a normal seasonal slowdown. IPC announced the July findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. Sales and orders were weaker in July, but the book-to-bill ratio held steady at parity. TotalRead More
Bishop & Associates’ Bob Hult offers a plea to engineers, praising all they’ve achieved but requesting a bit of restraint. I recently attended the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, where some of the most sophisticated high-tech equipment and manufacturing processes were on display. I am in awe at our ability to track swarms of space debris asRead More
Network data communications has evolved rapidly from “high-speed” gigabit Ethernet LANs to the integration of cloud-based information technology and data streams demanding terabytes of data. Engineers at TE Connectivity discuss how fiber optic advances push the bandwidth envelope in datacom and drive the next level of capabilities. Network data communications has evolved rapidly from “high-speed” gigabitRead More
The semiconductor market maintains its momentum so far in 2014, which is good news given how closely trends in the connector market follow trends in the semiconductor market. Global semiconductor market performance in early 2014 has continued where 2013 left off – with positive sales growth. As the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported at the beginning ofRead More
Semiconductors drive the electronics industry, and the connection between semiconductors and connectors spans more than three decades. The semiconductor industry has grown from roughly $10B in 1980 to $300B in 2013. Along the way it transitioned from analog to digital, ECL and Bipolar to CMOS, and has featured sizes from 100s of nm to as lowRead More
Converting an electrical signal to optic pulses has been a costly option that consumes too much PCB space and power. That’s changing now, as mid-board optical transceivers light up the datacom market. Demand for faster internal and external system interconnects has begun to push the limits of copper, especially in lengths of more than a fewRead More
The Direct Attach method removes the jack and patch cord from a typical Ethernet connection on the far end and attaches the device directly to a modular plug on the end of the horizontal Ethernet cable. Karl Griffith of Graybar explores the benefits of this solution. Graybar has identified an alternative method for network connectionsRead More
Top-of-the-rack architectures offer a clear access-layer migration path to an optimized high-bandwidth network and cabling facilities architecture that features low capital and operating expenses and supports a “rack-and-roll” computer deployment model that increases business agility. This article is excerpted from a white paper published by Cisco. Forward-looking IT departments are preparing their data centers forRead More
The first standard for 40G structured cabling, IEEE 802.3ba, only covered fiber optics and short-reach copper twinax. Now an active task force is developing a copper twisted-pair standard. Here is a look at the technology and potential market for copper 40-Gigabit Ethernet. While the TIA touts its premise wiring standards as “application non-specific,” the industryRead More
For high-speed communication beyond the first few meters, optics is a field-proven, energy-efficient transport mechanism. This TE Connectivity white paper delves into optimizing end-to-end communications with advanced fiber optic technologies. This white paper excerpt was contributed by TE Connectivity. More Data = More Consumption The emergence of faster data rates to keep pace with theRead More
TE’s 64-Fiber MXC Cable Assemblies, coming later this year, provide increased density and faster installation. TE Connectivity plans to release MXC fiber cable assemblies later this year. This new product line will support 64 fibers and accommodate up to 25Gb/s per channel, allowing for aggregate data transfers of 1.6Tb/s. MXC fiber cable assemblies will complement TE’s soon-to-be-released 25GRead More
TE’s NanoMQS miniature automotive connectors address the need for increased density and reduce the footprint on the PCB by about 50%. TE Connectivity expanded its MQS product group, which is used by most European vehicle manufacturers as well as others worldwide, with a miniaturized version. The NanoMQS system’s capability for small wire cross sections down toRead More
