Connector makers upgraded lines, extended product families and unveiled new interfaces to meet customer demands for increased circuit density and higher data rates. 2016 Connector Trends In a continuation of trends we’ve seen for several years now, a host of faster, smaller, and more affordable electronic components propelled the connector industry forward in 2016. ConnectorRead More
Change has been an integral part of human experience since the beginning. What is new is the incredible rate and volume of change that is impacting the entire electronics industry. What disruptive innovations will impact your world? Over much of its existence, the electronic connector industry has been able to support new interconnect requirements throughRead More
Robotic carsharing services will put fleets of autonomous vehicles at our app-driven beck and call. What do these super-cheap, super-safe connected vehicle systems mean for the transportation industry? Most cars spend most of their time parked and not being of any use to anyone, but carsharing schemes are changing that. “Street rental” services like GetaroundRead More
Seeking a way to deliver bandwidth more effectively, some have investigated the removal of high-speed circuits from the PCB by replacing them with discrete or ribbon twin-axial copper cables. For many years, engineers have bemoaned the eventual limitations of copper printed circuit board conductors in ever-higher-speed circuits: Surely the laws of physics would create barriers toRead More
The need to transmit more data at higher speeds is changing system design. New strategies include developing connectors specifically for high-speed operations, maintaining signal integrity at high speeds, and using new protocols. Today, interconnect technology has morphed to meet the need for speed. The continuous growth in IP services and access speeds has ledRead More
With the first half of 2016 behind us, Bishop & Associates’ Dave Brearley takes a look at the hot products and technologies that are dominating the year so far. The Hottest Connector Technology of 2016 (So Far!) Writing about connector innovations is always fun; recent developments are no exception. Innovative connector solutions have beenRead More
Chicklets revolutionized automation by increasing the overall speed and efficiency of designing in backplane connectors. The Germans are renowned for developing and enforcing mechanical standards that are used worldwide. German companies developed the DIN 41612 connector family and the Eurocard chassis standards, which remain the basis for many other standards, such as VME architectures usedRead More
A new direct-plug solution makes connecting LED strips almost as easy as screwing in a light bulb. Electronics designers and developers are always looking for suitable connection solutions for flexible LED strips. Reliability, functionality, size, and electrical requirements are important considerations in connection systems for electronic assemblies involving LEDs. A new direct-plug solutionRead More
As autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems become mainstream, LiDAR sensors become smaller, cheaper, and consumer-friendly. Will this impact automotive connector design? Light Detection and Ranging, or LiDAR, is a core source of data for driverless car systems like that being developed by Google, and the huge, expensive, mechanical LiDAR units used onRead More
Since the modern automobile was invented, its basic functionality and shape has remained essentially the same. However, the environment in which vehicles operate and the data to which they connect are changing dramatically, and components will play a significant role in the automotive revolution. The connected car has the power to shake up theRead More
The increasing complexity of and demands on networks may be solved with USB technology, but to simplify installations, be sure to follow these 10 rules. As an industrial, medical, laboratory, or field services interface, USB has many benefits that outweigh the risks. However, you can reduce your odds of disaster with simple fixes – likeRead More
High-performance polyamides provide improved reliability and safety in next-generation USB-C connectors. USB-C connectors will need to carry more power than previous generations in a much smaller form factor, which makes the performance properties of the materials used for holding all the conductive elements together especially critical. Reliability is a key requirement, so theRead More
