The development direction of RF coaxial connectors

A connector is an electromechanical component that connects a conductor (wire) to a suitable mating component to effect circuit switching. Consumer electronics connectors are: JST, AMP, MOLEX, JAM, I-PEX Automotive electronic connectors: JST, SUMOTOMO, YAZAKI, FCI, KET/KUM. Since the UHF series of connectors appeared in 1930, the history of RF coaxial connectors has been only a few decades, but because of its good broadband transmission characteristics and a variety of convenient connection methods, it is in communication equipment, The use of weapon systems, instrumentation and home appliances is becoming more widespread.

With the continuous development of the whole system and the continuous improvement of the production process technology, the RF coaxial connector is also constantly developing, and new varieties are emerging one after another. Through the analysis and analysis of the information of some foreign professional magazines, combined with my years of experience in the design and development of connector products, I believe that RF coaxial connectors will develop in the following directions in the future:        First, miniaturization, miniaturization         The miniaturization of the whole system not only enables the whole machine to achieve multi-function, portable and other characteristics, but also can significantly reduce material costs, transportation costs and its own energy consumption Especially for aerospace products, it can also significantly reduce the cost of launch. The miniaturization and miniaturization of components is the premise of miniaturization of the whole system. Only by using miniaturized components can high-density installation be realized, and more space can be saved.         The SSMB series RF coaxial connector products that appeared in previous years have been widely used in military products such as portable radios and missiles because of their small size, compact structure and quick plug-in connection characteristics; In recent years, there have been new types of connectors such as 1.0/2.3 (SAA) self-locking connectors and MMCX, SMP (2.4mm plug-in connectors), all of which are miniaturized and miniaturized, and are widely used in next-generation communications. Among the equipment. These products are capable of achieving high mounting densities. The MMCX series connectors are compared with the familiar SMA series. The actual footprint of the printed board straight sockets is 3.5 & TImes; 3.5 = 12.25mm2 and 0.25π & TImes; 9.32 = 68.4mm2 (where 9.3 is the envelope outer diameter of the SMA nut).         Second, high frequency         In order to get a wider channel space and achieve higher data transmission rate, the operating frequency of the whole system is constantly improving. The frequency of some coaxial transmission microwave signals developed by the Wuhan University of Posts and Telecommunications has reached more than 12 GHz. The military communication system has already entered the millimeter wave band. The research on domestic weapon systems has already shifted from the 8mm band to the 3mm band. At present, the country is working on the development of millimeter-wave RF coaxial connectors with frequency limits up to 50~110GHz.         HP in the United States introduced a 1.0mm RF coaxial connector with a frequency of up to 110GHz as early as the early 1990s, and has small-volume applications in its microwave test equipment; other internationally renowned large The company also has different types of millimeter-wave RF coaxial connectors, such as AMP's APC2.4, APC3.5 series, OMNI's OSSP series and SMP (common 0~26.5GHz, precision 0~40GHz) Series, K series, V series (1.85mm), etc., of which 3.5mm, 2.4mm, K type and SMP series have been mass-produced, widely used in communication equipment, test instruments and weapon systems.         Third, surface mount         In the short span of more than a decade of SMT (Surface Mount) technology, the assembly automation of the machine industry has significantly improved, the cost of products is large The reduction in magnitude has also prompted the component industry to transition from traditional pin-on packages to chip-based surface mount devices (SMDs), and the emergence of SMD is also known as the fourth revolution in electronics. According to Fleck Research, in 2000, the global production of chip-type surface mount components reached 700 billion, accounting for 70% of total component production.        MSN: shin_Ji@msn.cn JasON Ji LOL Many series of low-frequency surface mount printed circuit board connectors have been mass-produced, and surface-mount RF coaxial connectors are only available in user terminal products such as mobile phones due to special requirements such as their structure and working conditions. In batch use, manufacturers are also quite limited. However, with the continuous development of SMT technology, surface mount will become the mainstream way for small connectors to connect with microstrips and printed boards.         Fourth, multi-functional         multi-functional is a development direction of components, RF coaxial connectors are no exception. In addition to the function of the electrical connection, the new connector also has functions such as filtering, phase shifting, attenuation, detection, and mixing. The DC Block RF coaxial connector with filtering function has been widely used in many foreign machine systems; the SMD series of attenuation and detection connectors have been widely used in domestic distribution frame equipment; 1/4 wavelength bandpass The lightning protection connector is also a new type of multi-function connector that is widely used in the antenna feeder system.         The use of multi-function RF coaxial connector can greatly simplify the structure of the whole machine and improve the anti-interference ability of the system. In the next few years, there will be more varieties of multi-function RF coaxial. The connector was developed for use.           Five, high performance, high power         In order to meet the development needs of information highways, communication equipment requires high transmission rate, high signal to noise ratio, which requires Various components in the system achieve high electrical performance. The high-power, multi-channel transmission characteristics of the new generation communication system put forward new requirements for the EMC (electromagnetic interference) performance index of the RF coaxial connector. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has developed a coaxial connector "passive intermodulation". "The test standard for performance indicators, which will become the basic electrical performance indicator for high-power RF coaxial connectors. In short, RF coaxial connectors will develop rapidly with the development of the whole system, and replace waveguides and other microwave devices in more fields, becoming an indispensable key component in the field of microwave transmission.