Choosing the Right Connector Quickly and Confidently

With its MezzSelect™ product portfolio, launched onto the market just a few weeks ago, FCI is the first manufacturer to combine products and services for mezzanine interconnect solutions together in one package. MezzSelect™ simplifies the connector selection process and allows design engineers to complete their mezzanine designs faster and more easily and with less risk.

Since it was founded in 1989 FCI has rapidly become one of the top four connector manufacturers. It is however not just the broad product portfolio alone that give the customer added value: Additional services and support, for example the BASICS+ program and the brand new MezzSelect™-portfolio, can add essential time and cost advantages.

Customers Expect Time and Cost-Saving Services
A PCB is a good example of the situation facing customers today. Each PCB application requires one or more connectors in order to integrate power and signal transmissions. But at the start of the development phase the designer tends to concentrate on the semiconductor components involved, only giving thought at the last minute to the more “unattractive” connectors. If this happens, there are two options: either the designer falls back on proven connectors that were used in previous applications, or he/she looks for a new product that can meet the current challenges now being faced. If development however, is already at an advanced stage, it can turn out very costly to then have to develop a customized connector (and to manufacturer it in time) that meets the specific needs of the application.

Against this backdrop, FCI has, over the years, always focused on bringing completely new and improved connector series onto the market. But, as can be seen in a whole range of product offensives, it is not just the technical expertise of FCI’s own research and development department that has reaped dividends, but just as importantly, service and support aspects at the customer end have also been taken into account. Feedback from the sales and support organizations reflect where the shoe hurts most, so to speak, for in the world of connectors too, customers expect basically a total solution compromising the products along with time and cost-saving services.

MezzSelect™
On the basis of customer surveys, back already in 2001, FCI presented their first BASICS+ offering. This BASICS+ program combines proven 2.54 mm connector products with additional services such as fast, individual quotation processing and immediate technical support.
With MezzSelect™ FCI goes one step further and is the first manufacturer to provide products and services for mezzanine connectors in a combined package. MezzSelect™ incorporates the eight established product lines Bergstak^®, Bergstik™, Dubox™, Conan^®, MEG Array^®, GIG Array^®, Minitek™ and Ribcage™. With a number of new developments currently on-going, the portfolio will in future be expanded with high speed, high density and small contact pitch mezzanine connectors too.
The MezzSelect™ product selector has been developed with this demand for increased and extreme efficiency. At FCI´s website www.fci.com/mezzselect developers have direct access to the product selector. Based on mechanical and electrical selection criteria, the product selector allows for quick and easy selection of the product that best suits the application. In addition to this web access, printed copies of the product selector are also available.

Combining all these products capabilities and services together, MezzSelect™ offers a complete portfolio of mezzanine connectors with the following features:

In addition, technical information such as detailed specifications, 3D models or SPICE files can be called up via MezzSelect™ without delay thus saving time and making product selection quick and easy.

From low to high Stack Heights
The compact Bergstak^® 0.8 mm pitch connector series is available in an extensive choice of stack heights and circuit sizes. In sizes from 40 to 200 positions (in increments of 20 positions) and stack heights ranging from 5 to 16 mm (in increments of 1 mm), this connector family supports a wide range of mezzanine, board-stacking applications. All Bergstak^® products feature a robust blade-on-beam contact design at the mating interface and surface mount termination at the PCB interface.
Part of the Bergstik™ and Dubox™ range are vertical headers and receptacles providing a mezzanine system with pin-in-socket contacts (2.54 mm pitch).
FCI’s Conan^® 1.0 mm mezzanine connector is designed for interfaces between parallel printed circuit boards. Conan’s mechanical features and electrical contacts made of high grade materials, qualify it for high reliability use in applications with high packaging densities.
Polarization on both the mating and PCB interface prevents backward connections and manufacturing/assembly errors, respectively.
MEG Array^® and GIG Array^® are mezzanine connectors with patented BGA termination technology for high speed applications of up to 10 GBit/s. The combination of multiple stack heights (4 to 14 mm) and multiple sizes (81 to 528 signals) gives the MEGArray connectors optimal design flexibility. GIG Array connectors are available in sizes up to 296 signals and stack heights of up to 40 mm. Both families yield less than 1% cross talk performance (configured differentially).
The Minitek™ mezzanine system is a pin-in-socket board-to-board connector solution on a 2.00 mm pitch. It is part of FCI’s fully modular system and includes PCB headers and receptacles. The connectors in the Ribcage™ series optimize reliability for flexible flat cable applications. Multi-point, gold-plated receptacle contacts provide optimal reliability in high vibration and shock-prone applications. In order to suit different design and assembly requirements multiple PCB positioning and attachment options are available.

SPOERLE supports MezzSelect™
As FCI partner of many years’ standing SPOERLE will support the MezzSelect™-portfolio from the start. “MezzSelect™ is a step in the right direction,” says Michael Heil, Marketing Group Manager Connectors at SPOERLE: “Bringing together mezzanine connectors and supplementary services under one roof falls in completely with our philosophy of being able to advise our customers at each phase of development. In the case of connectors in particular, there is the danger that one can be lead by a sort of commodity perception and thereby neglect important selection criteria. In the worst case a connector chosen in a rush might not turn out to have the required level of mechanical or electrical performance and can negatively affect the end product.”

Additional Information
For additional information regarding MezzSelect™, simply contact your SPOERLE representative or visit

www.fci.com/mezzselect

© SPOERLE 2008