Molex Impact 100-Ohm Orthogonal Direct Connector Architecture Delivers Up To 25 Gbps Data Rates

“The direct connector solution benefits from the density, signal integrity and high-speed of Impact technology, without added cost and press-fit assembly,” explains Pete Soupir, new product development manager, Molex. “The space saving combination of the direct right-angle male connector and daughtercard simplifies component management for our manufacturing customers and enhances performance in data, telecommunications, medical, networking and other high-speed devices.”

Molex Impact orthogonal direct connectors feature two compliant-pin attach options and 18 to 72 differential pairs per orthogonal node. The 3-through 6-pair configurations include a complete range of options for the PCB and mating interface. The system takes advantage of the field-proven Impact mating interface, which offers the lowest mating force in the backplane industry, and patented compliant-pin technology to provide design flexibility and balance for superior mechanical and electrical performance.

Designed to meet IEEE 10GBASE-KR and Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) Stat Eye Compliant channel performance requirements, the Molex Impact orthogonal direct connector system ensures end-to-end compliance. Featuring shorter line cards and switch-module signal paths, the simple 2.15 by 1.35mm grid on both the Impact backplane and daughtercard reduces PCB routing complexity and costs.

“Customers gain additional electrical margin in their high-performance systems to run 25 Gbps+ more cleanly and mitigate the potential for bit error rates,” adds Soupir. “The broad-edge-coupled differential-pair Impact orthogonal direct architecture improves airflow and delivers more robust signal across all high-speed channels compared to typical routed backplane connections.”

The Impact 100-Ohm orthogonal direct connector system is backward compatible with previously released Molex Impact orthogonal midplane daughtercard receptacles.