The AirMax VS family now includes a low-profile 3-pair connector. Contains fewer pins per column than other connectors and has a slot spacing of 16.7 mm.
 
"The low profile of the AirMax VS 3-pair makes it ideal for use in blade servers and storage devices," said John Burkett, product manager. "The small slot spacing creates an open box that allows more airflow and cools the system, reducing the chances of overheating in systems such as servers."
 
VS System uses air as the dielectric between adjacent conductors, providing high signal density while exhibiting low insertion loss and crosstalk, without the use of metal shields.
 
The design of Insert Molded Leadframe Assembly (IMLA) enables the same connector to be used for Differential Pair signals, Single Ended signals or power. Combining EMI optimization with the use of air as a dielectric, designers can freely mix Differential Pair, Single Ended signals and power in one connector. Allows for any allocation of signals within one connector, so  systems can grow from 2.5Gb/s to 25Gb/s without requiring redesign of the basic platform.
 
Available in 6 IMLA or 54 positions, 8 IMLA or 72 positions and 10 IMLA or 90 positions.
 
FCI, www.fciconnect.com

The assembly of bare die in complex package configurations and/or with unique assembly processes is becoming more commonplace. Bare die are also being assembled together with a variety of other components and mechanical parts. Key applications driving this trend include remote sensing, distributed control, identification and 3-D assemblies.

To address the needs of these applications, Hover-Davis and Alphasem have agreed to work closely together to offer customers complete flexible die/component assembly solutions. For feeding bare die and flip chips, Hover-Davis will be providing Direct Die Feeders for integration into the Alphasem Flexline. The Flexline is an adaptable assembly platform capable of a handling a variety of components and processes. 

Hover-Davis, www.hoverdavis.com

Gage Applied Technologies has introduced optional on-board Signal Averaging FPGA Technology in its high-resolution digitizers. Allows users to detect very small signals in noisy environments.

Signal Averaging capability takes advantage of the on-board FPGA technology on select Gage 12 and 14-bit digitizers and allows rapid signal averaging with no CPU-loading on the host PC. The process consists of making multiple acquisitions of a repetitive waveform and averaging all acquisitions together. Any random noise is subsequently averaged to near zero, while the amplitude of the underlying repetitive signal remains unchanged.

Since the signal averaging is performed on-board using the intelligent processing of the FPGA, the amount of data that needs to be transferred via the PCI bus to the PC may be reduced by a factor of 1000. In fact, waveforms can be signal-averaged at a rate of greater than 100,000 waveforms/sec. or a data processing rate of 800 MB/s.

Signal averaging improves the fidelity of noisy repetitive signals. Small signals can be extracted from a background of high amplitude noise, which may even be larger than the actual signal itself. Applications include: ultrasonic, radar or lidar testing, optical fiber testing, stimulus-response systems and network analysis.

Gage Applied Technologies, gage-applied.com

TT electronics IRC Advanced Film Division developed a technique to produce custom thick film circuits and assemblies that allow high current-carrying traces (up to 100 amps) to be printed onto ceramic substrates for power hybrids or solid state relay substrates.

"By using these custom thick film circuits, design engineers can integrate current sense resistors with values as low as to 2 milliohms directly into the power hybrid substrate, which is not a possibility with direct bonded copper," said Tom Morris, applications engineering manager. "With this design, the circuits can be printed directly on a heat sink, eliminating the additional costs and processes of connecting a heatsink to a power substrate."

According to Morris, the copper fired thick films allow different types of circuits, including thermistors and temperature sensors, high voltage and pulse withstanding circuits to be combined on one board.

Typical applications are solid state relay substrates, power amplifiers and power supplies, thermo-electric coolers, water level sensors and high-brightness LED circuits.

TT electronics IRC Advanced Film Division, www.irctt.com