CIE Components in Electronics
FCI, a manufacturer of high speed IO cable assembly and connector systems, has developed cabling solutions that use the ExaMAX connector technology to deliver up to 40 Gb/s bandwidth capability. The ExaMAX IO connector design combines a new contact interface design technology that significantly decreases terminal stub and ground-mode resonances with an optimised cable termination that reduces impedance mismatch and signal loss.
The ExaMAX cable assemblies are able to leverage the inherent advantages of the ExaMax contact system – such as balanced differential pairs that minimise the electrical stub contact interface, while combining it with a highly controlled cable termination process that assures minimal impact to the signal path and the overall signal integrity performance. Crosstalk, skew and impedance mismatch have been reduced throughout the wire management, wire termination and wire strain relief areas to assure the high bandwidth capability of the cable assemblies. Initial cable samples exhibit full electrical compliance to the OIF-CEI-25G-LR industry standard specification.
“The ExaMAX cable assemblies are an extension to the ExaMAX family of products. The performance, simplicity and cost effectiveness of the system makes it an ideal cable assembly solution that combines high port density/signal IO throughput within a compact board real estate.” stated Jim David, HSIO portfolio director for FCI. “System hardware designers with applications like internal point to point or rack to rack cabling, backplane pass-through or cabled backplane applications, where signal loss is a major concern, will find it to be a viable option.”
The ExaMAX IO system cable assemblies have the flexibility to terminate standard twin-axial or ribbonized twin-axial cable constructions like those offered by the 3M corporation and their SL8800 series products. These cables utilize multiple wafer counts as a basis for the cable construction and therefore various differential pair counts can be easily accommodated with superior cable bend radius and cable routing capability.
