Chip-to-Module Cable Assembly and PCB Board Circuit

Through the design of the flexible PCB board combined with a rigid interface, the problems of space occupation and signal loss in high-speed data transmission are solved, and reliable signal transmission and simplified manufacturing of high-density interconnects are realized.

JP7628191B2Active Publication Date: 2025-02-07RUIJIE NETWORKS CO LTD
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Patent Information

Application Number
JP2023564252
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Patents
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2022-10-12
Publication Date
2025-02-07
Estimated Expiration
2042-10-12

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Traditional PCB boards cannot meet high-rate requirements during high-speed data transmission and high-speed cables take up a lot of space, making them unsuitable for high-density and large interconnection scenarios.

Method used

The structural design of a flexible PCB board and a rigid interface is adopted to realize signal transmission through the gold finger connector and socket elastic parts, reducing space occupation and improving flexibility.

Benefits of technology

Reliable signal transmission in high-density and large-number interconnect scenarios is achieved, reducing signal loss and simplifying the manufacturing process.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Patent Text Reader

Abstract

The present application relates to a chip-to-module cable assembly and PCB board circuit, the cable assembly includes: a first joint part including a plurality of first interface terminals, one end of which is connected to one signal port of an IO connector and the other end of which is connected to one conductor in a flexible PCB board cable; a flexible PCB board cable including a flexible material part located in two layers, one above the other, and a connecting part connecting the flexible material part at an end and being hollow, the flexible material part inner layer includes at least one conductor, one end of each conductor is connected to one first interface terminal of the first joint part and the other end is connected to one second interface terminal of the second joint part; and a second joint part including a plurality of second interface terminals, one end of which is connected to one conductor in the flexible PCB board cable and the other end is connected to one signal port on a main control board. The present application can solve the problems of the intra-board data transmission channel in hardware design and the problems of ultra-high speed signal transmission in a C2M link.
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Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This application relates to the communications field, and more particularly to chip-to-module cable assemblies and PCB board circuits. [Background technology]

[0002] The chip to module (C2M) physical channel is the most important physical layer interconnection of communication equipment. The topology structure mainly includes the connection between the main control chip and the IO (Input Output) connector. In order to meet the data communication requirements, the C2M channel should meet the channel loss requirements.

[0003] One way to realize a C2M channel is to use the copper foil on the inner layer of a multi-layer printed circuit board (PCB) to realize the interconnection between a switching chip, such as a MAC (Medium Access Control) chip and an IO connector, and the loss situation of the interconnection channel is determined by the wiring length between the two, the material properties of the board, and the manufacturing process. At low rates below a set rate threshold, the traditional PCB solution can meet the majority of C2M applications.

[0004] With the development of application demands such as big data, cloud computing, and AI (Artificial Intelligence), when the C2M rate rises to a higher rate than the set rate threshold, the traditional PCB solution cannot meet the signal requirements. The cable can be directly connected between the exchange chip and the IO connector, and because of its low loss, it is gradually applied to the C2M physical interconnection inside the equipment frame.

[0005] However, the cable size is large and occupies more space than the interconnections on the inner layers of the PCB multi-layer board, making it unsuitable for high-density and large-volume interconnection demand scenarios. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] To solve the problems of traditional PCB solutions being unable to meet high-rate demands and high-speed cable solutions occupying large space and complicated assembly, the embodiments of the present application provide a chip-to-module cable assembly and PCB board circuit that can not only meet high-rate data transmission demands, but also save space and be flexible in assembly. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] According to a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip-to-module cable assembly, the chip-to-module cable assembly comprising: a first joint part including a plurality of first interface terminals, each of which has one end connected to one signal port of the IO connector and the other end connected to one conductor in a flexible PCB board cable; the flexible PCB board cable including two upper and lower layers of flexible material parts and a connection part located in an intermediate layer, the connection part including two rigid material parts located at the ends of the upper and lower layers of flexible material parts, respectively, and a hollow part between the two rigid material parts, each of the flexible material parts including at least one conductor, one end of each of the conductors being connected to a first interface terminal of one of the first joint parts, and the other end being connected to a second interface terminal of one of the second joint parts; the second joint part including a plurality of second interface terminals, one end of each of the second interface terminals being connected to a conductor in the flexible PCB board cable and the other end being connected to a signal port on a main control board.

[0008] In one or more possible embodiments, the two rigid material sections are attached to the ends of the two upper and lower flexible material sections at the ends of the two upper and lower flexible material sections, respectively.

[0009] In one or more possible embodiments, at least one conductor located in the flexible material portion of the upper layer is connected to a corresponding first interface terminal at one end of the flexible material portion of the upper layer and to a corresponding second interface terminal at the other end via an upward via hole, and at least one conductor located in the flexible material portion of the lower layer is connected to a corresponding first interface terminal at one end of the flexible material portion of the lower layer and to a corresponding second interface terminal at the other end via a downward via hole.

[0010] In one or more possible embodiments, the number of the flexible PCB board cables is at least one, and each of the flexible PCB board cables respectively connects one first joint portion and one second joint portion.

[0011] In one or more possible embodiments, the first joint part is a gold finger connector, and the gold finger connector includes two first gold fingers, two pads, and an external connection line, the two first gold fingers are respectively located on the sides perpendicular to the via holes of the upper and lower two-layer flexible material parts, and one end of each of the first interface terminals of each of the first gold fingers is connected to a conductor in one of the via holes, and the other end is fixed by a pad and then connected to one signal port of the IO connector through one of the external connection lines.

[0012] In one or more possible embodiments, the second joint part includes two second gold fingers, the two second gold fingers are respectively located on the sides perpendicular to the via holes of the upper and lower two-layer flexible material parts, one end of each of the second interface terminals of each of the second gold fingers is connected to a conductor in a via hole, and the other end is connected to a signal port on the main control board after being inserted into a gold finger slot on the main control board.

[0013] In one or more possible embodiments, the second joint part is a socket. (Socket) Elastic piece and Socket elastic piece Each of the second interface terminals has one end connected to a conductor in a via hole, and the other end connected to a signal port on the main control board in an insertion manner.

[0014] In one or more possible embodiments, the number of the flexible PCB board cables is more than one; an intermediate rigid support portion located between ends of adjacent flexible PCB board cables connecting the second joint portions and adhered to the ends of adjacent flexible PCB board cables connecting the second joint portions; and an end rigid support portion located at an end portion connecting the second joint portion of the edge flexible PCB board cable, adhered to the end portion connecting the second joint portion of the edge flexible PCB board cable, and facing an intermediate rigid support portion position connected to the edge flexible PCB board cable, wherein the edge flexible PCB board cable is a flexible PCB board cable that connects only one intermediate rigid support portion.

[0015] In one or more possible embodiments, the upper flexible material section or the lower flexible material section within each of the flexible PCB board cables includes at least one conductor layer, each of the conductor layers includes at least one conductor, and each conductor is brought out through a microhole formed by a laser punch.

[0016] According to a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a PCB board circuit, the PCB board circuit comprising: A chip-to-module cable assembly according to the first aspect of the present invention; an IO connector connecting a main control board via the cable assembly, the IO connector receiving first data transmitted from a signal transmitting port of the main control board and transmitting the first data to an external device, and transmitting second data received from the external device to a signal receiving port of the main control board via the cable assembly; and the main control board is connected to the IO connector via the cable assembly for transmitting the first data transmitted by a signal transmitting port to the IO connector and receiving the second data transmitted by the IO connector at the signal receiving port. Effect of the Invention

[0017] The chip-to-module cable assembly and PCB board circuit according to the embodiments of the present application have the following beneficial effects:

[0018] The chip-to-module cable assembly according to the embodiment of the present application employs a flexible PCB board with an improved structure as a cable, which solves the problem of ultra-high speed signal transmission in C2M links compared to traditional PCB boards, and solves the problems of system assembly feasibility and reliability in high density and large volume interconnection demand scenarios compared to cable solutions. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a C2M channel realized by inner layer wiring of a PCB multilayer board in the related art. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a C2M channel implementation using a high-speed cable in the related art. [Diagram 3]FIG. 2 is a structural schematic diagram of a chip-to-module cable assembly according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a side cross section of a cable assembly according to a first embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an end connection of a cable assembly according to a first embodiment of the present application. [Figure 6] 1 is an enlarged schematic view of a joint portion according to a first embodiment of the present application. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a structural schematic diagram of a cable assembly according to a second embodiment of the present application. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a PCB board circuit according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of this application clearer, the following describes this application in more detail in conjunction with the drawings, and obviously, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments in this application without any creative effort belong to the protection scope of this application.

[0021] The physical channel of chip to module (C2M) is the most important physical layer interconnection of communication equipment, and the C2M channel should meet the requirements of channel loss. As shown in Fig. 1, one realization method of the C2M channel is to realize the interconnection between the exchange chip, for example, the MAC chip and the IO connector by the copper foil in the PCB multilayer board, the center of Fig. 1 is the MAC chip 10, the lower is the IO connector 20, the IO connector 20 is arranged horizontally and divided into three regions, respectively the left region 201, the middle region 202 and the right region 203, where the connection line 30 is the inner layer wiring of the PCB multilayer board, where the wiring distance between the left region and the right region is much larger than the wiring distance of the middle region. The connection between the MAC chip 10 and the IO connector 20 is realized by the inner layer wiring of the PCB multilayer board.

[0022] When adopting the above channel connection method, the loss situation of the interconnection channel is determined by the channel wiring length, the material properties of the board and the manufacturing process. The above traditional PCB solution can meet most C2M applications, but it has the following limitations:

[0023] PCB boards using MAC chips need to carry functions such as power and chips in addition to carrying high-speed signal interconnections, and the losses are still large (compared to copper cables). When the rate rises to a high rate higher than the set rate threshold, traditional PCB board solutions will gradually be unable to meet the application of long interconnection distances in systems.

[0024] With the development of application demands such as big data, cloud computing, and AI, the C2M rate rises to a higher rate than the set rate threshold, for example, above 100GBS, when the PCB board loss cannot meet the signal requirements, the cable can be directly connected between the IO connector and the MAC chip, and since the loss is low, it is gradually applied to the C2M physical interconnection inside the equipment frame, as shown in FIG. 2, specifically, the middle area is the MAC chip 10, the upper area is the IO connector 20, and the connecting line 30 specifically adopts a high-speed cable located outside the PCB board.

[0025] High-speed cable loss is less than 1 / 3 of PCB loss, and high-speed cables can be directly connected to chip packaging and IO connectors to meet the high-speed transmission demand, which is extremely good for complementing C2M PCB applications. However, the limitation of high-speed cables as C2M channels is that the cable size is large and occupies more space than the interconnects on the inner layer of the PCB, so it is not suitable for high-density and large-volume interconnect demand scenarios.

[0026] Compared with copper cables, flexible PCB boards have the following advantages: 1) The inner layer wiring of flexible PCB boards has an integrated type, which reduces the wiring on the PCB circuit board; 2) The bending yield strength can be manipulated in various ways to conform to edges, folds and creases according to the assembly demand, and the rebound force after the assembly is completed will not affect the reliability of the assembly.

[0027] An embodiment of the present application provides a chip-to-module cable assembly, and as shown in FIG. 3, the cable assembly in the embodiment of the present application includes: a first joint part 10 including a plurality of first interface terminals 101, one end of each of which is connected to one signal port of the IO connector and the other end of which is connected to one conductor in the flexible PCB board cable 20; a flexible PCB board cable 20 including a flexible material portion 201 located in an upper layer, a flexible material portion 202 located in a lower layer, and a connection portion 203 located in an intermediate layer, the connection portion 203 including two rigid material portions located at the ends of the upper and lower layers of the flexible material portion, respectively, and a hollow portion between the two rigid material portions, each of the flexible material portions including at least one conductor, one end of each conductor being connected to one of the first interface terminals 101 of the first joint portion 10, and the other end being connected to one of the second interface terminals 301 of the second joint portion 30; In the embodiment of the present application, the flexible PCB board cable, as an intermediate connection part, can be designed in length according to demand, and can be bent on the PCB board. In order to overcome the problem that the material loss of the traditional flexible board is generally high, the embodiment of the present application selects a flexible material that can meet the bending requirements and also the transmission loss when selecting the material of the flexible PCB cable. As an optional embodiment, in the embodiment of the present application, the material of the flexible PCB board cable is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). By adopting PTFE, the bending requirements can be met, the loss can be greatly reduced, and a higher rate of data transmission can be supported.

[0028] The flexible PCB board cable 20 in the embodiment of the present application adopts a three-layer structure in which the upper layer is a flexible material part, the middle layer is a connection part, the lower layer is a flexible material part, the connection part of the middle layer is a hollow structure, and two rigid material parts located at both ends connect the upper flexible material part and the lower flexible material part, respectively, and adopts this structure, which can play a supporting role at the ends on the one hand, and reduces the requirements for the via hole process of the conductor on the other hand. The upper or lower flexible material part includes at least one conductor layer, and each of the conductor layers includes at least one conductor. Here, one end of each conductor is connected to the first interface terminal of the first joint part, and the first joint part may be, but is not limited to, a rigid part, and can play the role of fixing and supporting.

[0029] The second joint portion 30 includes a plurality of second interface terminals 301, one end of each of which is connected to a conductor in the flexible PCB board cable 20 and the other end is connected to a signal port on the main control board, the second joint portion is used to connect the flexible PCB board cable and the main control board, the second joint portion has a conductor inside, and the conductor end is the second interface terminal.

[0030] The second joint part is a connection part having a conductor inside, and both ends of this conductor can be connected to a signal port on the main control board and a conductor in the flexible PCB board, respectively, to realize the transmission of data signals.

[0031] The chip-to-module cable assembly according to the embodiment of the present application adopts a flexible PCB board with an improved structure as a cable, which solves the problem of ultra-high-speed signal transmission in C2M links compared with traditional PCB boards, and solves the feasibility of system assembly in high-density and large-volume interconnection demand scenarios compared with cable solutions. In addition, the flexible PCB board cable has good bending performance in the middle part, and the rigid material part with support at the end is advantageous for the wiring via hole process.

[0032] In one or more possible embodiments, the two rigid material sections are adhered to the ends of the upper and lower layers of flexible material sections, respectively, at the ends of the upper and lower layers of flexible material sections, thereby serving as a fixed support for the ends and being advantageous for connecting the ends.

[0033] In one or more possible embodiments, at least one conductor wire located in the flexible material part of the upper layer is connected to the corresponding first interface terminal at one end of the flexible material part of the upper layer through an upward via hole, and at least one conductor wire located in the flexible material part of the lower layer is connected to the corresponding first interface terminal at one end of the flexible material part of the lower layer through a downward via hole. In this way, the first joint part is connected to the flexible PCB board cable on both sides opposite to each other at the ends of the two flexible material parts of the upper and lower layers, thereby playing the role of clamping, and also reducing the difficulty of the via hole process because the via hole does not need to penetrate the entire rigid material but is vertically upward or vertically downward in the flexible material part of each layer.

[0034] In one or more possible embodiments, at least one conductor wire located in the flexible material part of the upper layer is connected to the corresponding second interface terminal at the other end of the flexible material part of the upper layer through an upward via hole, and at least one conductor wire located in the flexible material part of the lower layer is connected to the corresponding second interface terminal at the other end of the flexible material part of the lower layer through a downward via hole. In this way, the second joint part is connected to the flexible PCB board cable on both sides opposite to each other at the ends of the two upper and lower flexible material parts, thereby playing the role of clamping, and also reducing the difficulty of the via hole process because the via hole does not need to penetrate the entire rigid material but is vertically upward or vertically downward in the flexible material part of each layer.

[0035] It should be mentioned that the conductive wires in the upper flexible material portion and the lower flexible material portion may be connected to the corresponding second interface terminals through via holes on the same side.

[0036] The flexible PCB board cable is a bendable material, the number of the flexible PCB board cables is at least one, and each of the flexible PCB board cables respectively connects one first joint portion and one second joint portion, i.e., one flexible PCB board cable connects a pair of first joint portion and second joint portion, and this situation applies when via holes are located on opposite sides of the ends of two upper and lower layers of flexible material portions.

[0037] In one or more possible embodiments, the IO connector may be in the form of, but not limited to, QSFP (Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable, 4-channel SFP (Small Form-factor Pluggable) interface) / QSFP-DD (Quad Small Form Factor Pluggable-Double Density) / OSFP (Open Shortest Path First) / SFP / SFP+, etc.

[0038] In one or more possible embodiments, the first joint part is a gold finger connector, the gold finger connector includes two first gold fingers, two pads, and an external connection line, the two first gold fingers are respectively located on the sides perpendicular to the via holes of the upper and lower two-layer flexible material parts, one end of each of the first interface terminals of each of the first gold fingers is connected to a conductor in one of the via holes, and the other end is connected to one signal port of the IO connector through one of the external connection lines after being fixed by a pad. The gold finger connector can play the role of fixing and supporting the flexible PCB board cable as a rigid material, and in order to reinforce the fixing effect, in the embodiment of the present application, for each flexible PCB board cable, on the side perpendicular to the via holes of the upper and lower two-layer flexible material parts, the conductor connects the corresponding first gold fingers through the vertical via holes, and the first gold fingers include a plurality of first interface terminals, which are respectively connected to the signal ports of the IO connector and the conductors in the flexible PCB board through the plurality of first interface terminals. In the embodiment of the present application, when the first gold finger and IO connector are used to connect to the flexible PCB board cable, there is no need to perform the via hole process in the rigid material, which reduces the difficulty of the via hole; the external connection lines are located on the sides perpendicular to the via holes of the upper and lower two-layer flexible material parts and extend to the outside in opposite positions, thereby forming a gold finger connector structure, which can be connected to the signal port of the IO connector, and also forms a clamping structure to play a fixed role for the flexible PCB board cable.

[0039] In one or more possible embodiments, the second joint part includes two second gold fingers, the two second gold fingers are respectively located on the sides perpendicular to the via hole of the upper and lower two-layer flexible material parts, one end of each of the second interface terminals of the second gold fingers is connected to a conductor in a via hole, and the other end is connected to a signal port on the main control board after being inserted into a gold finger slot on the main control board. Because the main control board has multiple gold finger slots on the same side, when the flexible PCB board cable is connected to one end of the main control board, the conductor only needs to be connected to the second interface terminal of the second gold finger through a via hole, and the other end of the second interface terminal of the second gold finger is directly inserted into the gold finger slot to be connected to the corresponding signal port on the main control board. In the embodiment of the present application, when the second gold finger is used to connect the flexible PCB board cable and the main control board, there is no need to perform a via hole process in the rigid material, so the difficulty of the via hole is reduced.

[0040] Alternatively, in one or more possible embodiments, the second joint portion may be a socket. (Socket) Elastic piece and Socket elastic piece Each second interface terminal in the flexible PCB board is connected to a conductor in a via hole at one end, and is connected to a signal port on the main control board by a plug-in manner at the other end. The main control board may have corresponding slots, each slot may include a plurality of jacks, and each jack may be connected to a terminal of a conductor, and the conductor in the flexible PCB board cable may be drawn out from the inside. Socket elastic piece It was produced in the form of Socket elastic piece By inserting it into the slot, the connection between the flexible PCB cable and the main control board can be realized.

[0041] The following is a description of a first joint part adopting a first gold finger connector and a second joint part adopting a second gold finger connector, or Socket elastic pieceAn embodiment employing the above will now be described in detail.

[0042] EMBODIMENT 1 In this embodiment, the number of the flexible PCB board cable is at least one, and the structure of one flexible PCB board cable is as shown in Fig. 4, the flexible material part includes an upper flexible material part 41 and a lower flexible material part 42, the middle layer is two rigid material parts 43 located at the ends of the upper flexible material part 41 and the lower flexible material part 42, and between the two rigid material parts is a hollow part 44, the first joint part adopts a gold finger connector structure to connect the signal port of the IO connector and the conductor in the flexible material part, and connects the high-speed signal (e.g., optical module, etc.) of the equipment external module through the IO connector, and the second joint part adopts two gold fingers 45 to connect the signal port on the main control board. At least one conductor of the upper flexible material part 41 is at one end connected to the first joint part and is drawn out to the outside through an upward via hole 49, and at least one conductor located in the lower flexible material part 42 is at one end connected to the first joint part and is drawn out to the outside through a downward via hole 50. At least one conductor of the upper flexible material part 41 has one end connected to the second joint part and is pulled out to the outside through an upward via hole 51, and at least one conductor located in the lower flexible material part 42 has one end connected to the second joint part and is pulled out to the outside through a downward via hole 52.

[0043] The flexible PCB board cable uses two stages of rigid material in the middle layer to connect the upper flexible material part and the lower flexible material part, but since the middle part is hollow, the flexible PCB board cable is divided into a middle part 400 which is flexible and has good bendability overall, and a first end part 401 and a second end part 402 which are connected at both ends by rigid materials, and the rigid material at the ends plays a role of fixing and supporting, and is more advantageous for connecting with the first joint part and the second joint part.

[0044] In this embodiment, the first joint part is a gold finger connector, and as shown in FIG. 4 , the gold finger connector includes two first gold fingers 46, two pads 47, and an external connection line 48. The two first gold fingers 46 are respectively located on the side perpendicular to the via hole of the upper flexible material part 41 and the side perpendicular to the via hole of the lower flexible material part 42, and the positions of the upper and lower sides are opposite to each other. One end of each first interface terminal of the upper first gold finger 46 is connected to a conductor in a via hole 49, and the other end is connected to one signal port of the IO connector through one of the external connection lines 48 after being fixed through the pad 47. One end of each first interface terminal of the lower first gold finger 46 is connected to a conductor in a via hole 50, and the other end is connected to one signal port of the IO connector through one of the external connection lines 48 after being fixed through the pad 47. The external connection line includes two portions, one of which is connected to the upper first gold finger and another of which is connected to the lower first gold finger, thereby forming a sandwich structure.

[0045] The second joint part includes two second gold fingers 45, which are respectively located on the sides perpendicular to the via holes of the upper and lower flexible material parts, the two second gold fingers 45 being respectively located on the side perpendicular to the via hole 51 of the upper flexible material part 41 and the side perpendicular to the via hole 52 of the lower flexible material part 42, the upper and lower sides being opposite to each other, one end of each second interface terminal of the upper second gold finger 45 is connected to the conductor in the via hole 51, the other end is connected to one signal port on the main control board after being inserted into a gold finger slot on the main control board, and one end of each second interface terminal of the upper second gold finger 45 is connected to the conductor in the via hole 52, the other end is connected to one signal port on the main control board after being inserted into a gold finger slot on the main control board.

[0046] In this embodiment, the material of the flexible PCB board cable 42 may be, but is not limited to, polytetrafluoroethylene PTFE.

[0047] In the embodiment of the present application, each flexible PCB board cable adopts a structure in which a two-layer flexible material part is adhered to the end by using a rigid material, and then a schematic diagram of a plurality of flexible PCB board cables is used to connect a main control board and an IO connector is shown in FIG. 5. Each flexible PCB board cable includes a first end 50a connected to the first joint part, a second end 50c connected to the main control board, and an intermediate part 50b where the first end 50a and the second end 50c extend outward to connect the first end 50a and the second end 50c. The first end 50a and the second end 50c are formed of two layers of flexible material parts, and the two layers of flexible material parts are adhered to the upper and lower joint parts. and a rigid material part that adheres to the flexible material part; the middle part 50b is represented by a dotted line, and the structure of the middle part 50b includes an upper layer flexible material part and a lower layer flexible material part, and the middle layer is a hollow part; at the first end 50a connected to the IO connector, the clamping structure formed by the gold finger connector is connected to a signal port on the IO connector, which may be the signal ports on both sides of the IO connector; at the second end 50c connected to the main control board, each flexible PCB board cable is respectively inserted into a corresponding gold finger slot through the gold finger, and multiple gold finger slots are located on the same side of the main control board.

[0048] In the embodiment of the present application, the rigid material adopts an adhesive method and only provides structural support, there are no signal via holes passing through the flexible and rigid materials (there may be ground connection via holes), and there are no signal via hole connections passing through the two flexible PCB board cables.

[0049] As shown in Figure 6, an enlarged schematic diagram of the connection between the gold finger connector and the flexible PCB cable.

[0050] In the embodiment of the present application, the above-mentioned first gold finger and second gold finger can realize various IO standards (SFP, QSFP, OSFP, etc.), and the external connection line terminals of the gold finger connector are respectively located on the upper and lower sides of one end of the upper and lower flexible material parts, jointly forming a gold finger clamping structure at the board edge.

[0051] In the embodiment of the present application, the flexible PCB board cable adopts a double-sided gold finger connection method, and the gold finger connector is connected to the main control board and the IO connector respectively as the cable interface.

[0052] In the embodiment of the present application, the first gold finger is connected to the external connection line through the pad by welding, the conductive wire in the flexible material part may be multi-layered, each layer includes at least one conductive wire, each conductive wire is drawn out to the outside through a via hole, the via hole may be a micro hole formed by laser punching, the laser punching has high precision. The present application reduces the requirement for the CTE of the flexible material, so that a material with low loss and high CTE can be selected.

[0053] By adopting a cable assembly with the above structure, the rigid part only serves a structural function, and combining the rigid part with the flexible part does not require the traditional high temperature crimping process, reducing the manufacturability requirements of the flexible material.

[0054] EMBODIMENT 2 The flexible PCB board cable in the cable assembly in the examples of the present application has the same structure as the flexible PCB board cable in the above embodiment, and a detailed interpretation of the structure of the flexible PCB board cable is omitted. The structure of the first joint part is the same, and the structure of the second joint part is different. As shown in FIG. 7, multiple flexible PCB board cables 70 are adopted, and each flexible PCB board cable is connected to an IO connector via a first joint part, which is the same as in embodiment 1, and therefore detailed illustrations and textual description are omitted here.

[0055] In an embodiment of the present application, the second joint portion is a socket (Socket) Elastic piece 71, and Socket elastic piece Each second interface terminal in 71 is located on the same side of the flexible PCB board cable, one end is connected to a conductor in one via hole, and the other end is connected to one signal port 72 on the main control board in an insertion manner. In the embodiment of the present application, in the second joint section, the via holes in the flexible material section are located on the same side, at least one conductor 73 located in the flexible material section of the upper layer is connected to the corresponding second interface terminal through a downward via hole, and at least one conductor 74 located in the flexible material section of the lower layer is connected to the corresponding second interface terminal at one end of the flexible material section of the lower layer through a downward via hole.

[0056] In this embodiment, the material of the flexible PCB board cable can be, but is not limited to, Polytetrafluoroethylene PTFE.

[0057] In this embodiment, the number of the flexible PCB board cables is plural, and the second joint part is a socket (Socket) Elastic pieceIn order to reinforce the robustness of a plurality of flexible PCB board cables, the flexible PCB board cable further includes an intermediate rigid support portion 75 located between ends connecting the second joint portions of adjacent flexible PCB board cables and adhered to the ends connecting the second joint portions of adjacent flexible PCB board cables, and an end rigid support portion 76 located at the ends connecting the second joint portions of edge flexible PCB board cables, adhered to the ends connecting the second joint portions of the edge flexible PCB board cables, and facing the intermediate rigid support portion positions connected to the edge flexible PCB board cables, wherein the edge flexible PCB board cables are flexible PCB board cables connecting only one intermediate rigid support portion.

[0058] In the embodiment of the present application, the above-mentioned first gold finger and second gold finger can realize various IO standards (SFP, QSFP, OSFP, etc.), and the external connection line terminals of the gold finger connector are respectively located on the upper and lower sides of the ends of the upper and lower flexible material parts, jointly forming a gold finger clamping structure at the board edge.

[0059] In the embodiment of the present application, the first gold finger is connected to the external connection line through the pad by welding, the conductive wire in the flexible material part may be multi-layered, each layer includes at least one conductive wire, each conductive wire is drawn out to the outside through a via hole, the via hole may be a micro hole formed by laser punching, the laser punching has high precision. The present application reduces the requirement for the CTE of the flexible material, so that a material with low loss and high CTE can be selected.

[0060] In the embodiment of the present application, each flexible PCB board cable combines two layers of flexible material parts with a rigid material. The inner layer signals of the flexible material parts of the flexible PCB board cable are not connected through via holes penetrating the rigid material (except for the ground connection), and the flexible material parts introduce the inner layer signals to the outer layer through micro holes formed by laser, exposing the inner layer signals of the multi-layer flexible PCB board to the outside of the cable in a stepped manner.

[0061] Flexible PCB cables are Socket elastic piece In this way, the socket is connected to the PCB packaging on which the chip is located, and adopts two or more cables adapted to the height.

[0062] Based on the same inventive idea, an embodiment of the present application further provides a PCB board circuit, as shown in FIG. A chip-to-module cable assembly 801 according to the above embodiment of the present application; an IO connector 802 for connecting a main control board 803 via the cable assembly 801, for receiving first data transmitted by a signal transmitting port of the main control board 803 and transmitting the first data to an external device 804, and for transmitting second data received from the external device 804 to a signal receiving port of the main control board 803 via the cable assembly; and a main control board 803 connected to the IO connector 802 via the cable assembly 801 for transmitting the first data transmitted by a signal transmitting port to the IO connector 802 and receiving the second data transmitted by the IO connector 802 at the signal receiving port.

[0063] Although the preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, those skilled in the art may make other changes and modifications to these embodiments once they have acquired the basic creative concept, and therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including the preferred embodiments and all changes and modifications falling within the scope of the present application.

[0064] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the embodiments of the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and modifications of the embodiments of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and equivalent techniques, the present application is intended to include these modifications and modifications.

Claims

1. 1. A chip-to-module cable assembly comprising: a first joint part, a first flexible PCB board cable, and a second joint part; the first joint portion includes a first interface terminal and a second interface terminal, a first end of the first interface terminal being connected to a first signal port of an IO connector, a second end of the first interface terminal being connected to a first conductor in the first flexible PCB board cable, a first end of the second interface terminal being connected to a second signal port of the IO connector, and a second end of the second interface terminal being connected to a second conductor in the first flexible PCB board cable; the second joint portion includes a third interface terminal and a fourth interface terminal, a first end of the third interface terminal is connected to the first conductor, a second end of the third interface terminal is connected to a first signal port on a main control board, a first end of the fourth interface terminal is connected to the second conductor, and a second end of the fourth interface terminal is connected to a second signal port on the main control board; the first flexible PCB board cable includes a first flexible material section, a connection section, and a second flexible material section, the first flexible material section being disposed on an upper layer of the first flexible PCB board cable, the connection section being disposed on an intermediate layer of the first flexible PCB board cable, and the second flexible material section being disposed on a lower layer of the first flexible PCB board cable, wherein the connection section includes a first rigid material section, a second rigid material section, and a hollow section disposed between the first rigid material section and the second rigid material section, the first conductor being disposed on the first flexible material section, a first end of the first conductor being connected to the first interface terminal, a second end of the first conductor being connected to the third interface terminal, the second conductor being disposed on the second flexible material section, a first end of the second conductor being connected to the second interface terminal, and a second end of the second conductor being connected to the fourth interface terminal; the first rigid material section is disposed between a first end of the first flexible material section and a first end of the second flexible material section, and the second rigid material section is disposed between a second end of the first flexible material section and a second end of the second flexible material section; the first conducting wire is connected to the first interface terminal at a first end of the first flexible material section through an upward first via hole, and the second conducting wire is connected to the second interface terminal at a first end of the second flexible material section through a downward second via hole; a second flexible PCB board cable, the first flexible PCB board cable being connected to the second joint portion via a first end, and the second flexible PCB board cable being connected to the second joint portion via a second end, the cable assembly comprising: an intermediate rigid support disposed between a first end of the first flexible PCB board cable and a second end of the second flexible PCB board cable; an end rigid support portion installed at a first end of the first flexible PCB board cable, the end rigid support portion and the intermediate rigid support portion being installed on opposite sides of the first flexible PCB board cable, the first flexible PCB board cable being a flexible PCB board cable connecting only one of the intermediate rigid support portions.

2. the first joint part is a gold finger connector, the gold finger connector includes a first gold finger, a second gold finger, a first pad, a second pad, a first external connection line, and a second external connection line, wherein the first gold finger is disposed on a first end of the first flexible material part and perpendicular to the first via hole, the first gold finger is disposed on the first interface terminal, the second end of the first interface terminal is connected to the first conductive line through the first via hole, and the first end of the first interface terminal is connected to a first signal port of the IO connector through the first external connection line after being fixed by the first pad; 2. The cable assembly according to claim 1, wherein the second gold finger is disposed on a first end of the second flexible material portion and perpendicular to the second via hole, the second interface terminal is disposed on the second gold finger, a second end of the second interface terminal is connected to the second conductor through the second via hole, and a first end of the second interface terminal is connected to a second signal port of the IO connector through the second external connection line after being fixed by the second pad.

3. 2. The cable assembly of claim 1, wherein the first conductor is connected to the third interface terminal at the second end of the first flexible material section through an upward third via hole, and the second conductor is connected to the fourth interface terminal at the second end of the second flexible material section through a downward fourth via hole.

4. the second joint part includes a third gold finger and a fourth gold finger, the third gold finger is located at a second end of the first flexible material part and perpendicular to the third via hole, the third gold finger is provided with the third interface terminal, a first end of the third interface terminal is connected to the first conductor through the third via hole, and a second end of the third interface terminal is connected to a first signal port on the main control board after being inserted into a first gold finger slot on the main control board; 4. The cable assembly of claim 3, wherein the fourth gold finger is located at a second end of the second flexible material portion and perpendicular to the fourth via hole, the fourth interface terminal is installed on the fourth gold finger, a first end of the fourth interface terminal is connected to the second conductor through the fourth via hole, and a second end of the fourth interface terminal is connected to a second signal port on the main control board after being inserted into a second gold finger slot on the main control board.

5. 2. The cable assembly according to claim 1, wherein the second joint portion is a socket elastic piece, the third interface terminal and the fourth interface terminal are installed on the socket elastic piece, a first end of the third interface terminal is connected to the first conductor through a downward fifth via hole, a second end of the third interface terminal is connected to a first signal port on the main control board in an insertion manner, a first end of the fourth interface terminal is connected to the second conductor through a downward sixth via hole, and a second end of the fourth interface terminal is connected to a second signal port on the main control board in an insertion manner.

6. 2. The cable assembly of claim 1, wherein the first flexible material portion includes a first conductive layer, the first conductive layer including the first conductive wire, the first conductive wire being drawn out through a microhole formed by a laser punch, and the second flexible material portion includes a second conductive layer, the second conductive layer including the second conductive wire, the second conductive wire being drawn out through a microhole formed by a laser punch.

7. A communication device, A chip-to-module cable assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 6; an IO connector that connects a main control board via the cable assembly, the IO connector being configured to receive first data transmitted from the main control board and transmit it to an external device, and to transmit second data received from the external device to the main control board via the cable assembly; the main control board connected to the IO connector via the cable assembly and configured to transmit the first data to the IO connector and receive the second data transmitted by the IO connector.

8. 1. A chip-to-module cable assembly comprising: a first joint part, a first flexible PCB board cable, and a second joint part; the first joint portion includes a first interface terminal and a second interface terminal, a first end of the first interface terminal being connected to a first signal port of an IO connector, a second end of the first interface terminal being connected to a first conductor in the first flexible PCB board cable, a first end of the second interface terminal being connected to a second signal port of the IO connector, and a second end of the second interface terminal being connected to a second conductor in the first flexible PCB board cable; the second joint portion includes a third interface terminal and a fourth interface terminal, a first end of the third interface terminal is connected to the first conductor, a second end of the third interface terminal is connected to a first signal port on a main control board, a first end of the fourth interface terminal is connected to the second conductor, and a second end of the fourth interface terminal is connected to a second signal port on the main control board; the first flexible PCB board cable includes a first flexible material section, a connection section, and a second flexible material section, the first flexible material section being disposed on an upper layer of the first flexible PCB board cable, the connection section being disposed on an intermediate layer of the first flexible PCB board cable, and the second flexible material section being disposed on a lower layer of the first flexible PCB board cable, wherein the connection section includes a first rigid material section, a second rigid material section, and a hollow section disposed between the first rigid material section and the second rigid material section, the first conductor being disposed on the first flexible material section, a first end of the first conductor being connected to the first interface terminal, a second end of the first conductor being connected to the third interface terminal, the second conductor being disposed on the second flexible material section, a first end of the second conductor being connected to the second interface terminal, and a second end of the second conductor being connected to the fourth interface terminal; the first rigid material section is disposed between a first end of the first flexible material section and a first end of the second flexible material section, and the second rigid material section is disposed between a second end of the first flexible material section and a second end of the second flexible material section; the first conducting wire is connected to the third interface terminal via an upward third via hole or a downward fifth via hole, and the second conducting wire is connected to the fourth interface terminal at a second end of the second flexible material portion via a downward fourth via hole or a downward sixth via hole; a second flexible PCB board cable, the first flexible PCB board cable being connected to the second joint portion via a first end, and the second flexible PCB board cable being connected to the second joint portion via a second end, the cable assembly comprising: an intermediate rigid support disposed between a first end of the first flexible PCB board cable and a second end of the second flexible PCB board cable; an end rigid support portion installed at a first end of the first flexible PCB board cable, the end rigid support portion and the intermediate rigid support portion being installed on opposite sides of the first flexible PCB board cable, the first flexible PCB board cable being a flexible PCB board cable connecting only one of the intermediate rigid support portions.

9. 9. The cable assembly of claim 8, wherein the first conductor is connected to the first interface terminal at a first end of the first flexible material section through an upward first via hole, and the second conductor is connected to the second interface terminal at a first end of the second flexible material section through a downward second via hole.

10. the first joint part is a gold finger connector, the gold finger connector includes a first gold finger, a second gold finger, a first pad, a second pad, a first external connection line, and a second external connection line, wherein the first gold finger is disposed on a first end of the first flexible material part and perpendicular to the first via hole, the first gold finger is disposed on the first interface terminal, the second end of the first interface terminal is connected to the first conductive line through the first via hole, and the first end of the first interface terminal is connected to a first signal port of the IO connector through the first external connection line after being fixed by the first pad; 10. The cable assembly according to claim 9, wherein the second gold finger is disposed on a first end of the second flexible material portion and perpendicular to the second via hole, the second interface terminal is disposed on the second gold finger, a second end of the second interface terminal is connected to the second conductor through the second via hole, and a first end of the second interface terminal is connected to a second signal port of the IO connector through the second external connection line after being fixed with the second pad.

11. the second joint part includes a third gold finger and a fourth gold finger, the third gold finger is located at a second end of the first flexible material part and perpendicular to the third via hole, the third gold finger is provided with the third interface terminal, a first end of the third interface terminal is connected to the first conductor through the third via hole, and a second end of the third interface terminal is connected to a first signal port on the main control board after being inserted into a first gold finger slot on the main control board; 9. The cable assembly of claim 8, wherein the fourth gold finger is located at a second end of the second flexible material portion and perpendicular to the fourth via hole, the fourth interface terminal is installed on the fourth gold finger, a first end of the fourth interface terminal is connected to the second conductor through the fourth via hole, and a second end of the fourth interface terminal is connected to a second signal port on the main control board after being inserted into a second gold finger slot on the main control board.

12. 9. The cable assembly according to claim 8, wherein the second joint portion is a socket elastic piece, the third interface terminal and the fourth interface terminal are installed on the socket elastic piece, a first end of the third interface terminal is connected to the first conductor through the fifth via hole, a second end of the third interface terminal is connected to a first signal port on the main control board in an insertion manner, a first end of the fourth interface terminal is connected to the second conductor through the sixth via hole, and a second end of the fourth interface terminal is connected to a second signal port on the main control board in an insertion manner.

13. 9. The cable assembly of claim 8, wherein the first conductor is connected to the first interface terminal through a downward seventh via hole and the second conductor is connected to the second interface terminal at the first end of the second flexible material portion through a downward eighth via hole.

14. 14. The cable assembly according to claim 13, wherein the first joint portion is a socket elastic piece, the first interface terminal and the second interface terminal are installed on the socket elastic piece, a second end of the first interface terminal is connected to the first conductor through the seventh via hole, a first end of the first interface terminal is connected to a first signal port of the IO connector in an insertion manner, a second end of the second interface terminal is connected to the second conductor through the eighth via hole, and a first end of the second interface terminal is connected to the second signal port of the IO connector in an insertion manner.

Citation Information

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