Paddle Card Shielding Planes for USB Type-C Signal Integrity
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Solution Overview
Problem
USB Type-C plug cable assemblies face challenges in maintaining high-speed signal connections due to the reversible nature of the USB Type-C connector, which complicates ensuring high-speed signal integrity for USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5Gbps) or Gen 2 (10Gbps) signals.
Innovation Solution
A paddle card with a circuit board, pad group, and shielding planes is used to connect cables and plugs, featuring specific pad configurations and openings in the shielding planes to achieve impedance matching and prevent crosstalk between differential pairs, ensuring reliable high-speed signal transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If USB Type-C connector is designed to be reversible, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability of high-speed signal connection deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating asymmetric pad lane configurations on different surfaces of the circuit board. The first pad lane on the first surface has a different configuration than the second pad lane on the second surface, allowing the reversible connector to maintain proper signal alignment in both orientations while preserving high-speed signal integrity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses dimensionality change by considering the three-dimensional orientation of the reversible connector. By designing different pad lane configurations for different surfaces (top and bottom of the circuit board), the solution accounts for the rotational dimension of the reversible connector, ensuring proper signal connection regardless of insertion orientation
2Use of energy by moving object
If pad lanes are configured for high-speed signals, then electrical efficiency is improved, but susceptibility to crosstalk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces ground planes as intermediary elements between adjacent pad lanes. These ground planes act as shielding barriers that electrically isolate the high-speed signal pad lanes from each other, preventing crosstalk while maintaining the electrical efficiency needed for high-speed data transmission
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the electrical parameters of the pad lane configuration by introducing ground planes at specific intervals and positions. This modifies the electromagnetic field distribution around the signal traces, reducing coupling between adjacent signals and minimizing crosstalk while preserving signal integrity
Data Source
AI summary
A paddle card includes a circuit board, a pad group and first to fourth shielding planes. The circuit board has an upper surface and a lower surface opposite to each other. The pad group is adapted to connect wires of a cable or terminals of a plug, and includes a pair of upper differential pads on the upper surface and a pair of lower differential pads on the lower surface. The pair of upper differential pads is respectively configured corresponding to the pair of lower differential pads in an up and down manner. The first to fourth shielding planes are stacked at intervals between the upper and lower surfaces in sequence. An orthogonal projection of a second opening of the second shielding plane on a geometric plane that a pair of third openings of the third shielding plane is located in is separate from the pair of third openings.