Grid Array Connector System With Welded Conductors
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Solution Overview
Problem
As data rates increase beyond 56 Gbps, traditional connector systems face challenges in maintaining low insertion loss while ensuring ease of assembly, particularly in high-density configurations like 1U servers, due to limitations in circuit board designs.
Innovation Solution
A grid array connector system with conductors directly terminated to a board via welding, using pedestals for secure mounting and strain relief, and an optional interposer for chip package attachment, allowing for differential pairs and ground pads to manage signal integrity and thermal distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If traditional circuit board designs are used to connect connectors to processors, then the system structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but insertion loss increases significantly at high data rates (beyond 56 Gbps)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a cable as an intermediary component between the IO connector and the circuit board. This cable serves as a mediator that has lower signal loss characteristics compared to traditional circuit board traces, thereby reducing overall insertion loss in the high-speed data path while maintaining a relatively simple system architecture
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the traditional monolithic circuit board connection into separate components: an IO connector, a cable, and a circuit board with a second connector. This segmentation allows the cable to handle the high-speed signal path with lower loss, while the circuit board handles power, ground, and lower-speed signals, optimizing each component for its specific function
2Loss of energy
If cable-based bypass connections are used to reduce insertion loss at high data rates, then signal loss decreases, but assembly difficulty increases and creates manufacturing process issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the cable connection with the circuit board by integrating the second connector directly onto the circuit board. This combination creates a unified assembly where the cable connects to the board-mounted connector, simplifying the manufacturing process by reducing the number of separate assembly steps while maintaining the low-loss cable path for high-speed signals
3Ease of operation
If connectors are placed far from the processor on the circuit board to ease assembly, then assembly ease improves, but signal loss increases due to longer trace lengths
Solution Approach 1:
The cable acts as an intermediary that decouples the positional constraints of the IO connector from the processor location. The IO connector can be positioned optimally for assembly and cable routing, while the cable carries the high-speed signal directly to the processor with minimal trace length on the circuit board, thereby reducing signal loss without compromising assembly ease
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The grid array connector system provides low-loss connections with improved assembly ease and flexibility, supporting high data rates by reducing insertion loss and facilitating efficient thermal management.
Implementation Method 1
The conductors can be attached to a support via a welding operation
Implementation Method 2
The board can be configured to be attached to a chip substrate via a solder operation that connects pads on the connecting surface of the board to pads on the chip substrate
Data Source
AI summary
A grid array connector system is provided that includes cables connected to pedestals that are mounted on a board. The cables include conductors that are connected to support vias positioned in openings in the board and the conductors are connected to the support vias.