Expanding its power connector portfolio, FCI has announced the PwrMAX Ortho power connectors to support a new data centre equipment trend known as Orthogonal system packaging architectures. This architecture can offer improved data transfer and improved system cooling by eliminating mid-plane circuit boards.

FCI has completed accelerated life testing of its GCS silver based plating to offer an alternative to existing gold/nickel and GXT finishes in electronic connector applications. GCS plating combines long-term wear and reliability benefits traditionally found in gold-plated connectors, with the lower resistance and higher current carrying capacity found with silver plating.

Using duobinary encoding over a channel including the ExaMAX high speed backplane connector, FCI has successfully demonstrated an error-free transmission at a data rate of 56Gb/s. ExaMAX connectors combine speed, superior signal integrity performance and low crosstalk while eliminating insertion loss resonances.

The Leap On-Board-Transceiver (OBT) is a one inch square board mounted optical module which has been introduced by FCI. The device includes 12-transmit and 12-receive channels, each working at 25Gb/s over distances up to 100m with a total of 300Gb/s throughput. When placed near the host ASIC, the LEAP enables shorter copper board traces, better signal integrity and lower power consumption.

Designed to provide high amperage connections between busbars and circuit boards, the BarGuide power connectors have been released by FCI. Featuring a current carrying capability of 60-250A, the connectors are available with press fit PCB tails for mounting on both circuit boards and busbars. For both parallel and perpendicular interconnections, the devices are offered in vertical and right angle designs. 

Rated at 60A per contact, the PwrBlade+ cable connectors have been introduced by FCI. The connectors are capable of terminating the widest range of wires in one housing, 26-6AWG, and come in both cable-to-cable and cable-to-board solutions to meet a wide variety of customer needs.

Claimed to provide more flexibility than traditional power connectors, the Minitek Pwr Hybrid 3.0 and 4.2 connectors have been released by FCI. Alongside dual row power circuits, the 3.0 and 4.2 configurations are available for 2-24 power circuits and 2-12 signal circuits for wire-to-board applications. Crimping and removal tools are provided for wire harness assemblies, while vertical wave soldering headers are offered in through-hole configurat...

FCI has expanded its PwrBlade ULTRA series to include the Right-Angle and Coplanar configurations. With a unique hard-metric compatible design, the vertical receptacle connectors allow the use of PwrBlade ULTRA in traditional backplane applications. The right-angle receptacle provides for low profile coplanar applications.

FCI has announced the release of its robust Griplet miniature IDC connector for wire-to-board terminations. The low profile and compact design makes Griplet a suitable connector where space is tight and ease of installation is important. Each connector has a height of 3.7mm and a footprint of 4.0x6.1mm.

FCI has announced that it will exhibit its current range of connectors and launch several recently-introduced products at electronica 2014. FCI's booth will feature product highlights from various product categories, namely board-to-board, wire-to-board, power, terminal blocks, high speed backplane, high speed I/O, storage and FFCC/FPC. Live demonstrations will also be conducted throughout the exhibition.

Capable of supporting a wide variety of board-to-board applications, the EconoStik 2.54mm range of un-shrouded headers has been introduced by FCI. The headers are available in single-row and double-row with vertical through-hole, right-angle through-hole and vertical SMT versions and pin counts up to 72 positions.

As an extension of its Terminal Blocks portfolio, FCI has announced the NQ series wire-to-board spring clamp system. The surface mount NQ series features a robust design, versatile modular system, secure electrical contacts, low wire insertion, high wire retention forces and a user-friendly lever latch engineered for effortless wire removal.

Suitable for consumer applications such as notebooks, solid state lighting, portable gaming consoles, tablets, and mobile navigation devices, the low profile 1.2mm pitch wire-to-board connector has been introduced by FCI. With a mated height of only 2.50mm and a selection of 3 to 6 pin counts, the connector will address increasing demands for miniaturised interconnect solutions across different industries.

At this year's DesignVision Awards, FCI were presented with an award in the Interconnect Technologies and Components category for its ExaMAX Direct-Mate Orthogonal Connector.

Expanding the company's portfolio of optical and electrical cabling solutions, FCI has revealed that it will introduce its mini-SAS HD Active Optical Cable (MSHD AOC) assembly at DesignCon 2014. Supporting plug and play operations, this four-channel cable features low power optical components with an average consumption of just 800mW.

At DesignCon 2014 (January 28-31, Santa Clara, USA), FCI will present three interconnect solutions in Booth 403. The connector solutions are an I/O cabling solution, a connector for high current density and low power loss applications, and a connector for applications requiring a direct pluggable connection to an uninsulated bus bar.

Enhancing its portfolio of power solutions, FCI has introduced the HPCE (High Power Card Edge) BTB (board-to-board) connectors. Specifically designed for applications requiring a high current density and low power loss, the two-piece header and receptacle solution suits applications such as next generation 1U/2U servers, switches, storage enclosures, telecommunications equipment, industrial PCs, controls and instrumentation equipment.

FCI has increased the versatility of its popular High Power Card Edge product range with the new HPCE straddle mount connectors for thicker printed circuit boards. FCI’s original HPCE straddle mount connectors were manufactured to be mounted on the more commonly-used 1.57mm-thick PCBs. Engineers are now given more flexibility as FCI’s latest straddle mount additions, with their redesigned terminal tails, allow the components to be mou...

At FCI Electronics, we design, and manufacture a wide array of hi-tech connector solutions for various market applications, including telecommunications, data storage, consumer electronics, as well as industrial and medical instrumentation. To give you a sneak peak of what we do, here are 3 products that we’d like you to know more about.

FCI has today announced that the BERGSTAK 0.8mm mezzanine connectors have been successfully demonstrated to be capable of supporting PCI Express 3.0 signalling at 8 GT/s. With PCIe 3.0 signal performance demonstrated up to 10mm stack height, the compact, dual-row BERGSTAK 0.8mm pitch connector series is available in 40 to 200 positions in increments of 20 positions.