The development of connectors helps smartphones become thinner and thinner.Elastic electrode price

　　Not long ago, EEWORLD interviewed Egbert Stellinga, Global Product Manager of I/O Connectors, TE Consumer Electronics Division. From the perspective of connector suppliers, he answered reporters' questions on the hot issue of smartphones.

　　Stellinga said that in order to reduce the size to meet the needs of portable products, TE has been committed to reducing product thickness, width and depth. At present, the components on the PWB have been reduced to occupy only 1/3 of the space of the circuit board, and the connector, as a relatively large-sized component in the mobile device, has also contributed to this transformation.

　　Stellinga predicts that although the current internal connections of the device have not undergone substantial changes, as the speed increases, shielding and grounding requirements increase, signal integrity design becomes more difficult, and high-current charging technologies make connectors more and more Become important.

　　At the same time, Stellinga emphasized that although TE is a connector supplier, it also provides power and grounding solutions, which is also one of the fastest growing product categories in TE's consumer electronic equipment sector.

　　In order to meet the demand for high-current charging, it is necessary to prevent excess energy loss and maintain signal integrity. It is important to use highly conductive materials. These connector development trends started in the field of smartphones.

　　1. What efforts does TE use to meet the market's demand for slimmer mobile devices? Are there any special products that have been launched, and what are their main features?

　　For many years, we have been working hard to reduce the overall size of our products. This reduction in specifications is not only in the thickness of the product, but in the overall shape of the product including width and depth. The latter two sizes will affect the area of the printed circuit board (PWB), which is very critical for today's mobile devices. To achieve a high degree of reduction, we need to have a wealth of experience, knowledge and professional skills. Even if the progress made each time is small, our team of professional engineers has always been committed to continuously reducing the thickness of the components to meet the most demanding customer needs. In these aspects, we have not reached the limit, but we still need to try to renew in order to obtain greater benefits. Our senior R&D team is trying to apply some very novel concepts to next-generation product solutions. Some of them are very attractive from the perspective of improving performance and saving space. Here are a few examples of our latest space-saving products, all of which are suitable for mobile device applications:

　　·High-speed multifunctional I/O connector, which provides USB3.0-level performance in the form of USB2.0 generation

　　· Push-type Micro SIM card, which reduces the height of push-type SIM card to 1.27 mm

　　·The new board-to-board connector with a height of 0.6 mm

　　·The new 1.3 mm high pre-assembled spring clip connector fills the gap between 1.2 and 1.4 mm

　　2. Many mobile equipment suppliers are adopting an L-shaped layout to make mobile phones slimmer. From the perspective of the connector, do you think the L-shaped design is more powerful and reliable than the "dual-board + connector" solution?

　　Today's smart phones consume more and more power. The L-shaped layout is used to increase the battery size in order to support the result of greater power demand. The battery is placed in the available space on the circuit board in an L shape, which allows manufacturers to use larger batteries than ever before. The original sandwich stack arrangement will increase the thickness of the device and reduce the space available for the battery. Today, the components on the PWB have been reduced to only occupy less than 1/3 of the space on the circuit board, and this change in the basic structure of the battery has become possible. The increase in the size of the display screen has also contributed a lot in this regard. Connectors, as the relatively large-sized components in mobile devices, have also contributed to this design shift. L-shaped circuit board design is very common today, and it has also led to changes in the demand for I/O connectors-from top-mounted to middle-mounted and reverse middle-mounted. The good news for consumers is that these mounting methods are generally more robust than top-mounting because they can be better packaged on the circuit board.

　　3. Do you think that with the trend of integration and modularization, there will be fewer and fewer devices using connectors in the future? Why?

　　TE connectivity is a connectivity company. But our product portfolio is not limited to connectors, but also includes antennas and circuit protection. In the past ten years, we have indeed seen incredible growth in wireless devices, but wired connections are still essential to ensure reliability and speed. We have observed that the connection inside the device has not changed substantially. Of course, we are already moving towards other broader areas of connectivity. In the next few years, we will see a further increase in the connection speed of mobile devices. As connections become more complex, this will bring another change-the need for more shielding and grounding will become more important. TE's power and grounding solutions are one of the fastest growing product categories in our consumer electronics equipment sector. We will continue to be an industry leader, using a wider range of products and new solutions to help designers meet the challenges they face. The situation in the charging field is similar. Many of our customers are looking for a way to fully charge their devices in 15 minutes or less. This requires a very large current, which has a significant impact on the connector design.

　　4. Although the connector does not account for a high proportion of the overall BOM of the mobile phone, its high quality must be ensured. How does TE ensure the quality of connectors in terms of design, raw material procurement and production?

　　TE Connectivity is wholeheartedly committed to providing our customers with first-class quality products. The quality concept is fully integrated into our organizational culture. Ensuring quality has been incorporated into the conceptual design stage from the very beginning and is indispensable throughout the design process. We apply multiple Six Sigma technologies to verify designs and other processes. This concept is carried through to the time of mass production. We use the most advanced stamping and assembly machinery, which contains some of the latest online inspection systems. Even for auxiliary processes such as planning, purchasing, and customer service, we apply the Six Sigma method as part of the continuous improvement process of DMAIC (design, measurement, analysis, improvement, control).

　　5. Compared with feature phones, what special requirements do smart phones have on connectors? From the perspective of a professional connector supplier, can you give some suggestions on how designers should choose connectors?

　　Remember one thing: today’s smart phone is tomorrow’s feature phone. The development of this market is very rapid. The key aspects of today's smartphone market are speed and power. Speed refers not only to I/O connectors, but also other peripherals such as memory cards and displays. USB3.0 is about to enter the world of mobile devices in a big way. This will bring speeds up to 5Gb/s. The technology applied in other consumer electronic devices can even achieve 10Gb/s. In order to meet the demand for high-current charging, it is necessary to prevent excess energy loss and maintain signal integrity. It is important to use highly conductive materials. These connector development trends, which started in the field of smart phones, will soon be integrated into the broader mobile device market.

　　6. Tablet PCs and smartphones are the hottest electronic products recently. Do you think there is any difference in their connector requirements? If so, what are the main differences?

　　The main difference is the I/O connector. Generally, tablets have more space than mobile devices, so it is easier to integrate additional ports such as USB ports or card readers. In the general tablet computer, because the size limit is relatively small, there can be a wider range of connector options. We often see that the larger battery capacity often makes the battery connector look cumbersome. Some tablet PCs also need to be upgraded to accommodate additional solid-state memory and/or wireless network cards. These problems do not exist for mobile phones. TE Connectivity recently launched a series of connectors called NGFF (Next Generation Form Factor). They are designed for this purpose and will replace the existing Mini Card Express solutions used today.

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