2007 Symposium & Expo 

Legacy Learning Tutorials (day one, May 8, 2007 started at 1 pm):

• “Legacy Learning on Copper and Optical Wirelines”, Steve Lampen gave another of his trademark and always entertaining/engaging talks on wireline transport issues, including skew and a look at coax vs UTP.
• “Best Practices in Interconnect Metallurgy and Test” - Max Peel presented a legacy learnings tutorial on “basic best practices” in metallurgy for copper interconnects. In his many years of testing and conducting failure analysis on customer problems at Contact Research, Max has assembled an impressive body of “truths” about what works and what is problematic and why.   As always, Max delivereda  entertaining talk sprinkled with “real world” case studies and examples that drive home the teaching on issues like gold underplate, gold thickness, tin whiskers, mixed flowing gas testing, plus some time devoted to test methods good and bad.
• “High Frequency S Parameter Issues and Understanding” – Dale Reed took on the physics of high frequency signal transport, giving it color in layman’s terms. No formulas here, this talk was all about connecting the dots and understanding at a macro level.
• “Fiber Optic Legacy Learning” – Doug Parker addressed how optical technology works, singlemode vs multimode, signal integrity characteristics, and termination best practices for mainstream connector types.   The author presented a mountain of material in a short, information packed set of PowerPoint slides that will likely become the basis for review and continued legacy learnings on optical connectivity.

Innovation & Excellence Papers/Presentations: Optical Wireline Section 

“Application Suitability of Military Fiber Optic Connectors” by William M. Reid   P.E.Vice President, Product Development, Amphenol Fiber Systems International

Matching the application with the hardware has always been the challenge. In optical connectivity, the solutions can range from $5 per mating half to 100x that cost point, this paper dealt with some of the selection criteria to guide the user thru the process.

“High Density Optical Passive Interconnects Are Here, Applying PCB Routing Technology to the Optical Space” by Rob Wheeler, Product Manager of Multifiber Connectivity, Stratos Optical, Chicago, IL

Passive within device and device to device optical interconnects have come a long way from the patch cord of yesterday, this paper looked at the enabling technology and the elevated port count serviced today.

“Microbending of Optical Fiber Cables in Aerospace Environments” by Douglas A. Hardy, Gore.

Bend radius issues have always been with us. In optical transport, this issue has particular significance, as this paper uncovered and discussed.

“Next Generation Navy Fiber Interconnect (NGCon) Update” by Monish Doshi of Glenair

The Navy has determined to develop a fiber interconnect that must accommodate genderless, rear removable termini in high density packaging.  This paper is an update from the working group from the fiber interconnect industry that has been working for the past three years to determine performance specifications for this Next Generation Navy Fiber Interconnect (NGCon) system.

“Complex Part Inspection: Optical Technology for Speed, Accuracy and Completeness”, by Craig Crump, CEO, CGI, Inc., Minneapolis, MN

Optically generated high-density point clouds and three-dimensional color maps are revolutionizing the metrology of complex injection molded parts. From first article inspections to multi-cavity mold re-qualifications, these tools provide a faster, more accurate and more comprehensive capture of data – often reducing inspection times from weeks to days.

“Expanded Beam optical connectors take on Field Environment Applications”, by Marc Motazedi, Regional Manager of Stratos International.

Expanded beam optical connectivity, a military option popular in Europe, has come to America and is being picked up by the broadcast boys to handle field video in bandwidth hungry high definition TV applications as well. This paper covered the technology, several emerging applications, and illustrates a transition path to this new technology.

Innovation & Excellence Papers/Presentations: Copper Wireline Section 

“ROHS, Its Effects on the Connector Industry (are we doomed to repeat the errors of the past?) by Darrell Fernald. WPI Corporation

Past IICIT President Darrell Fernald took us thru some of what this directive does and doesn’t do with an appropriate warning at the applications level regarding unintended consequences….

“Evolution of tin coatings for connector applications” by Toshihisa Hara, Masahiro Kawaguchi, Masayuki Nishimura & Ryoichi Ozaki, Kobe Steel; Anders Kamf & Michael Silvestri, Luvata

The authors looked at the history and technical development of tin rich solutions in metallurgy for connector applications in automotive applications. RoHS compliance is impacting low whisker risk 100 % bright tin coatings, but has also made reflow coatings more attractive. Two specific tin coatings were discussed.

“Thickness effect of pure tin layer on initial resistance increase in relatively moving contacts” by Kyota Susai and Kazuo Yoshida, Furukawa Electric, Japan

Tin in a wonderful surface for solderability in the short term and can be part of the RoHS compliance agenda. This paper dealt with the impact of thickness in the equation.

“Center Contacts in F-Connectors” by Steve Lampen, Multimedia Technology Manager, Belden and Dale Reed, Senior VP Sales/Marketing, Stratos International

For decades, the cable television industry has deployed a pinless F connector in the last mile that uses the center conductor of the cable as the mating pin.  But the cable center conductor was never designed for, and never intended to function as, a contact point. This paper showed examples of this problem and suggested some solutions.

“Filter Connector Technologies” by Neil McHaffy, Sr. Project Engineer, ITT CANNON Electronic Components, Santa Ana, California

The progression of innovations to enable capacitance in connectors to eliminate unwanted EMI/RFI and to achieve space savings in design was discussed, using real world examples.

"Failures of Electrical Connectors - Selected Case Studies", by Nosh K. Medora, S.M., P.E., Managing Engineer, Electrical Practice, Exponent Failure Analysis Associates, Phoenix.

Nosh turned his considerable talents in test and measurement to focus on the failures common to interconnects in the transport of power.  A prolific writer and speaker, he touched on electrocution, arcing, and ignition effects using computer simulation.

“SMA Connectors with Extended Frequency Range” by Rudy Fuks, Astrolab, NJ

The title says it all. Years ago, we were all told that gallium arsenide would replace silicon as the material of choice for integrated circuits. It has yet to happen. Is the SMA connector following the same path to eternal greatness?  

 

 “Deployment of Next Generation RF Connection Technologies in the Field - Reliable RF Connections for Wireless Microwave Towers” by Bruce Carlson of PPC.

Radio Frequency (RF) coaxial connections are gaining new life in high bandwidth networks, with recent direct experience building a high-bandwidth backhaul carrying traffic for the large cellular carriers. Bruce gave an overview of land based RF transport and the importance of connectors and termination emphasis on network reliability to enable wireless transport of information, including why this segment is seeing a reemergence as a viable low cost and fast way to solve overall network demand needs in the short to medium haul ranges.

“Advances in Cable Assemblies for High Speed Digital Data Transmission” by Steve Rosenberg, W.L. Gore and Associates

Gore has longtime been known for high frequency dielectric materials and constructions. As network bandwidth has driven high frequency, it was just a matter of time before data rates would enter the high frequency domain previously reserved for exotic analog signal processing. Steve got into the recent advances in this interesting market segment in this paper.

 

“Spaceflight connector Technology” by Olivier Perat of CNES (French National Space Agency).

The author discussed the use of a common set of tested connector types and a central internet based portal are in use today in Europe to help achieve the rigor of space qual interconnect products.

 

Kings presented a better idea than the old wire-lock approach to vibration and temperature creep, with an anti-rotational feature built in to their new N and TNC type connectors.

“Open networking and interconnect standards, an advocate position”, by Joe Pavlat, Harting.

Mike recounted the huge success in telco standards and open architecture and speculates on the positive benefits of extending that to net-centric military networking models.

“History, Musings, and a Projection on WAN Networking, the Final Frontier of Interconnecting”, by Dale Reed, Senior VP Stratos International

Dale wound up the Symposium with a quick, pithy, hopefully provocative look at where we have been, our challenges today, and a view of tomorrow in WAN networking the planet.