System engineers must balance priorities of reach, thermal management, panel density, backward compatibility, power consumption, multiple sourcing, and cost when selecting optical transceivers. Pluggable I/O transceivers in standardized configurations have proven to be a cost-effective solution to the challenges of creating high-speed optical networks. They have emerged as a leading interface for current and next-generationRead More

Sleek designs, subtle colors, and hidden locations help connectors blend in when applications need to look good or not be seen at all. While most connectors and electronic circuits are hidden “inside the box” or within the packaging of a device, charging ports and other external connection points are necessarily visible. In some situations, that’sRead More

Meet the Connector: Hyperboloid Contact Technology The hyperboloid contact was invented in 1956 by Francois Robert Bonhomme for railway applications. Connections for lighting and ventilation in train cars were not secure due to the high amount of shock and vibration, which caused frequent interruptions. In the 1960s, as the technology advanced and was patented, companiesRead More

Meet the Connector: ECU Connectors ECU Connectors, also called PCM connectors, are used to connect different types of controllers, particularly in vehicle applications. An electronic control unit (ECU) or electronic control module (ECM) is an embedded system that controls one or more of the electrical systems or subsystems in a car or other vehicle. One side of the connector interfaces with the ECU (orRead More

Meet the Connector: Bulkhead Mount Connectors The term bulkhead mount refers to the mounting style of the connector. In this case, it is the method used to attach a connector to a product casing, enclosure, or panel from the front or rear side. Normally, it involves a threaded body or a push-pull device. The connectorRead More

Meet the Connector: Micro-D Connector The tiny but mighty micro-D connector is half the size of a standard D-sub yet delivers rugged and reliable performance in commercial and military applications.  Micro-D (and nano-D) connectors were derived from D-sub (D-subminiature) connectors in the 1970s. Their compact design led to their early popularity for use in computers.Read More

Meet the Connector: SCSI Connectors The Small Computer Systems Interface, or SCSI connector, (pronounced “scuzzy”) is a veteran of the small computing world. In the 1980s, this fast I/O connector served as a bus to link computers with components or peripherals such as disk drives. SCSI connectors typically feature two rows of pins in aRead More

Minimizing size, weight, and power (SWaP) while maintaining performance and reliability is a major challenge for designers tasked with the development of modern-day electrical and computer equipment for the military market. The shift from analog to digital electronics has brought new and improved capabilities in smaller package sizes. What once required a computer, camera, faxRead More

Meet the Connector: PCIe Connectors Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCle), also called PCI Express, is a high-performance and high-bandwidth serial communication I/O interconnect bus standard. Interconnects that meet the PCIe standard include mezzanine and board-to-board connectors, over-the-board solutions, high-speed edge card sockets that support 1, 4, 8, and 16 PCIe links, and PCIe optical cableRead More

Meet the Connector: QMA Connectors The internal construction of the QMA is identical to the SMA and, like that connector, it delivers excellent performance up to 18 GHz and has the same power handling capabilities. The main difference is in the coupling mechanism. Instead of a threaded coupling, QMAs have a snap-on design with aRead More

As more products go cordless, durability has become an imperative for battery connectors. Batteries enable devices as simple as a toy or as complex as a phone to operate using stored energy instead of a wired connection to an energy source. As more devices become cordless and more sophisticated devices move into the consumer realm,Read More

Meet the Connector: N-Type Connectors N-Type connector, or simply N connector, is an RF connector used to join coaxial cables. It was invented by Paul Neill of Bell Labs in the 1940s and was subsequently named for him. This medium-size, threaded, waterproof connector was one of the first that could carry microwave-frequency signals.    The N-TypeRead More