Board Backplane Interconnect Ups Signal Speed & Integrity

A new pc board backplane interconnection system has been developed that is reported to deliver unprecedented advantages in system speed, signal integrity, electrical performance, and backplane density compared to conventional connector technology. Boasting of a signal-to-noise ratio of 8:1 and signal speeds higher than 3 Gb/s with no measurable crosstalk, the interconnect system brings the traces on a daughtercard to the narrow side of the pc board and then mates them directly to the backplane.
The trace ends along the thin side of the card are mated with the SMT pads printed on the backplane by using a grid of metallized particle interconnect (MPI) columns. The MPI>SI (Side Interface) connector mounts the daughtercard perpendicular to the backplane-- special compression hardware is needed to make the connection.
The MPI>SI interconnects are made using a high-temperature, flexible conductive polymeric material with embedded metallized particles, with the material formed into micro-columns measuring about 0.66 mm in dia. x 0.89 mm high. The contacts have a power rating of 4A. And volume pricing for the high-density interconnects is expected to be about $0.10 per contact.