At recent trade shows, interconnect suppliers spotlighted fiber optic innovations, as the connector industry forges ahead in optical technology. Just this month, Molex, TE, and US Conec all introduced new optical products that provide faster data rates, more versatility, and unlimited potential. Molex Technologies Support MXC Fiber Optic Interface Molex announced that its VersaBeam supports the new MXCRead More

As goes the semiconductor market, so go interconnects. The Semiconductor Industry Association shares the five things to know about global semiconductor sales now. 1. Global semiconductor sales reached a record high in 2013. Worldwide semiconductor sales for 2013 reached $305.6 billion, the industry’s highest-ever annual total and an increase of 4.8% from the 2012 totalRead More

Using multi-contact coax connectors and VITA standards can preserve space on the front panel and facilitate insertion/removal of cards for installation, repair, and upgrades. A growing trend in electronic packaging for military and aerospace applications is the availability of multi-contact coaxial interconnects. A key driver is the desire to provide RF disconnect capability at the backplane/daughtercardRead More

The VITA specifications enable the embedded computer industry to support military, avionic, space, instrumentation, semiconductor processing, medical imaging, and industrial control applications. The way industry standards are often viewed by the engineering community has been the source of jokes for many years: How many engineers does it take to change a light bulb? None, they simplyRead More

Bob Hult reports on the connector technology highlights from DesignCon, especially the race to 100+Gb/s. The DesignCon 2014 conference and expo once again demonstrated the event’s value as the premier showcase for high-speed chip, connector, and PCB board technology. Featuring a full schedule of well-attended technical sessions over four days, a sense of excitement andRead More

Technology advances in the last decade transformed the automotive, commercial, and consumer device landscape. Enabled by advances in silicon IC technology, markets and applications converged around WiFi, LTE, Bluetooth, flash memory, multicore processors, and standardized high-speed I/O interfaces. The transition from the Internet of connected people to the Internet of connected things opened up entirelyRead More

High availability and the reliability of rolling stock comprise the basic requirements for modern rail freight. HARTING is researching solutions for condition-based maintenance strategies. The long history of sustained, strong growth in global trade correlates to a continued increase in the flow of goods in the future. Despite political advocacy and a broad range ofRead More

With no medical industry standards for cable, the industry adopts voluntary specifications to ensure patient safety. The medical device industry tolerates a much smaller margin of error than most other industries. Medical devices are highly precise and sensitive instruments. As such, medical interconnect cable, and more significantly, the material used in such apparatuses, must beRead More

Consider these design parameters for custom coil cords to ensure a successful application. To work well, each coiled cable design requires a special bulk cord design. Computerized design methods ensure attention to the fine details so your product works properly. Performance limits for coiled cables are controlled by the width of the coil and the elasticityRead More

Personal devices, access to content, data taxing infrastructure, advanced vehicle electronics, and hands-free technology are the things to know about the electronics industry right now. What are the most important drivers, developments, and things to know about the global electronics industry? Molex’s Brian Krause gave us an overview of what’s happening and what we shouldRead More

The future is foggy for computer peripherals as cloud computing and all-in-one devices take over. Computer peripheral equipment comprises the many devices connected to or working with PCs or other computers. With the current decline in PC sales, one would expect the future of the computer peripherals market to be in decline. This is true,Read More

John MacWilliams makes his predictions for China’s electronics market in the near future. China will continue to export from massive factories and add capacity to meet burgeoning domestic demand for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, OEMs are beginning to insource products once again. Products and components built in North America and Europe include higher-value products suchRead More