Board-to-Board Connectors Market

Board-to-Board Connectors Market: Trends, Growth Drivers, and Market Segmentation

The Board-to-Board Connectors market is witnessing substantial growth fueled by the increasing demand for compact, high-speed, and reliable interconnect solutions across various electronic devices and systems. This report offers a comprehensive analysis of the Board-to-Board Connectors market landscape, exploring key trends, growth drivers, and market segmentation to provide stakeholders with valuable insights into this evolving industry.

Understanding Board-to-Board (BTB) Connectors: A Comprehensive Guide

Board-to-board (BTB) connectors play a crucial role in transmitting signals between printed circuit boards (PCBs). These connectors are essential in a variety of consumer devices and have become increasingly important with the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) across multiple industries. In this article, we will explore the different types of BTB connectors, their design considerations, and the materials used to manufacture them, providing you with a thorough understanding of these vital components.

The Anatomy of BTB Connectors

BTB connectors are composed of a housing and terminals made from conductive materials, typically copper alloy. The terminals are often plated to enhance conductivity and prevent rust. There are two main mounting techniques for BTB connectors:

1. Through-Hole Technology (THT): Pins are inserted through holes in the PCB and soldered on the opposite side.

2. Surface-Mount Technology (SMT): The connector is mounted directly onto the surface of the PCB.

Types of Board-to-Board Connectors

1. Parallel Backplane Connectors: Parallel backplane connectors create a complete computer bus that supports multiple daughter boards. Historically used in mainframe computers, these connectors are now common in top-of-rack switch applications and hybrid hard drive (HHD) clusters.

2. Mezzanine Connectors: Mezzanine connectors are high-speed connectors that stack two parallel PCBs. This configuration is ideal for applications requiring compact and reliable connections.

3. Edge Card Connectors: Edge card connectors connect perpendicular to the motherboard in a coplanar configuration, typically using right-angle connectors to maintain a consistent plane.

4. Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) Connectors: FPC connectors are used in small devices such as consumer electronics. They feature small pin pitches, low profile heights, and high-density arrangements, making them suitable for compact spaces.

5. Floating Connectors: Floating connectors can absorb misalignments in the “x” and “y” directions, ensuring reliable connections even if the PCB interface is not perfectly aligned.

Notable BTB Connector Series

Phoenix Contact FINEPITCH Series: This series offers both shielded and unshielded solutions for signal and data transmission. It provides various PCB orientations, designs, stack heights, and pin pitches, catering to diverse connection needs, including mezzanine, coplanar, and mother-daughter card configurations.

JAE AX01 Series: Known for its floating tolerance of +/-0.5 mm in both the X and Y directions, this series is designed to handle misalignments effectively.

Design Considerations

When specifying BTB connectors, several key factors must be considered:

- Housing Size and Material: Determines the connector’s durability and suitability for specific applications.

- Number of Contacts and Contact Rows: Affects the connector’s capacity and density.

- Stacking Height: Measured from the PCB, influencing the overall space utilization.

- Contact Length and Pin Pitch: Impact signal integrity and connection reliability.

- Termination Method: Choice between THT and SMT affects ease of assembly and performance.

Signal Integrity (SI): Ensuring effective communication without distortion is critical. Issues such as crosstalk, return loss, attenuation, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) must be minimized.

Density: High-density connectors allow more connections in a smaller area, reducing the overall size and weight of the connector.

Stack Height: Lower stack heights reduce the space taken up by the connector, which is beneficial in compact designs.

Insulating Materials

Plastic insulators are crucial for holding conductors in the desired shape. Different insulators offer varying levels of strength, weatherability, and chemical resistance. Some common insulators include:

Polybutylene Terephthalate (PBT): Excellent dielectric strength, formability, low flammability, and impact strength.

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS): Good impact toughness, wear resistance, and an economical choice with a shiny appearance.

High-Performance Polyamide (PA 46, PA 6T): High-temperature resistance, good elongation, and rigidity, available in halogen-free options.

Liquid-Crystal Polymer (LCP): Exceptional dimensional stability, weatherability, chemical inactivity, and moldability, suitable for high-precision designs.

Packaging Options

Packaging ensures the protection and ease of handling BTB connectors during transportation. Common packaging methods include:

- Bulk (PE bag or small box)

- Trays

- Tubes, with optional Pick and Place (P&P) Cap or Kapton tape

- Tape and Reel (T&R), with optional P&P Cap or Kapton tape

- Custom packaging solutions

The Resilience of Board-to-Board Connectors in Modern Applications

In industries like aerospace, industrial automation, transportation, and healthcare, the reliability of board-to-board (BTB) connectors is non-negotiable. These connectors are integral in ensuring seamless signal transmission between printed circuit boards (PCBs). However, the environments in which they operate are often harsh, characterized by mechanical stressors such as shock, vibration, and oscillations, as well as thermal and chemical challenges from extreme temperatures, corrosive gases, moisture, and dirt. To withstand these conditions, manufacturers employ advanced materials and innovative design strategies to enhance the durability and performance of BTB connectors.

Robustness Amidst Miniaturization

The trend towards miniaturization in modern electrical engineering means that components, including connectors, must become smaller and more powerful while still enduring the same level of environmental stress. Despite their reduced size, high-quality connectors today not only match but often surpass the robustness of their larger predecessors. This advancement is due to improvements in material composition and product design, such as refined geometries of insulator materials.

Key Factors Influencing Connector Robustness

Several factors influence the robustness of BTB connectors, including surface treatment, contact design, contact systems, termination technology, insulator material design, and tolerance ranges.

Surface Treatment

Durability of Plating: The durability of a connector is often determined by the quality of its plating, which impacts the number of mating cycles it can withstand. Frequent micromovements can cause abrasions and oxide formation, leading to increased contact resistance and poorer signal transmission. High-quality contact coatings are essential to mitigate surface abrasion and maintain reliable connections.

Contact Design

Stamped vs. Turned Contacts: Stamped contacts, created using CNC machines, often have inhomogeneous surfaces that can increase surface abrasion and contact resistance. Designing contacts to minimize these issues is crucial for maintaining low resistance and high reliability.

Contact System

Double-Sided and Gender-Neutral Contacts: Traditional connectors have separate male and female contacts, but in high-shock environments, male contacts can lift off, causing interruptions. Double-sided female contacts provide redundancy, ensuring continuous signal transmission. Gender-neutral contact systems, with identical contact geometries on both halves, further enhance robustness and reliability.

Termination Technology

Press-Fit and Surface-Mount Technologies: Press-fit technology aims to achieve strong retention forces with minimal press-fit force, crucial for withstanding shock and vibration. Surface-mount technology (SMT), using solder paste to attach connectors, is another method that provides reliable connections, especially when PCBs are assembled on both sides or space is limited.

Insulator Material Design

Protection and Alignment: The design of insulator materials is vital for protecting contacts from damage during operation or assembly. Inclined insertion surfaces and capture ranges help compensate for misalignments, allowing connector halves to mate without damage even when there is a center or angle offset.

Tolerance Range

Compensating for Mechanical Movements: The ability of a connector to compensate for mechanical movements in all directions (X, Y, and Z) is critical. Secure mating, which describes the overlap area of male and female connectors, allows for different board-to-board distances and tolerance ranges, ensuring the connector remains robust under various operational conditions.

Market Overview:

Board-to-Board connectors play a critical role in establishing electrical connections between printed circuit boards (PCBs) within electronic devices and systems. The market's growth is driven by the rapid proliferation of electronics in applications such as telecommunications, automotive, consumer electronics, industrial automation, and healthcare, necessitating efficient and compact interconnect solutions.

Segmentation Analysis:

By Pitch Size:

- < 0.5 mm

- 0.5 mm to 1 mm

- 1 mm to 2.54 mm

- > 2.54 mm

By Connector Type:

- Board-to-Board Stacking Connectors

- Board-to-Board Mezzanine Connectors

- Board-to-Board Card Edge Connectors

- Board-to-Board Power Connectors

- Others

By End-Use Industry:

- Telecommunications

- Automotive

- Consumer Electronics

- Industrial Automation

- Healthcare

- Aerospace and Defense

- Others

By Mounting Style:

- Surface Mount

- Through-Hole

By Region:

- North America

- Europe

- Asia Pacific

- Latin America

- Middle East & Africa

Dominating Companies in Board-to-Board Connectors Market

• TE CONNECTIVITY
• AMPHENOL CORPORATION
• HIROSE ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
• Molex (a subsidiary of Koch Industries)
• JAPAN AVIATION ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY, LTD.
• OMRON CORPORATION
• SAMTEC
• CSCONN CORPORATION
• FIT HON TENG LIMITED
• AVX Corporation (a subsidiary of Kyocera Corporation)
• HARTING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• 3M
• ERNI DEUTSCHLAND GMBH
• HARWIN
• EPT GMBH
• KEL CORPORATION
• METZ CONNECT GMBH
• SMK CORPORATION
• ACES ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
• AIRBORN, INC.
• AUK
• ROSENBERGER
• JST SALES AMERICA, INC.
• IRISO ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
• YAMAICHI ELECTRONICS CO.
• PHOENIX CONTACT
• Advanced Interconnections Corp.
• FCI Electronics (now part of Amphenol ICC)
• Fujitsu Component Limited
• Panasonic Corporation
• Sullins Connector Solutions
• Würth Elektronik GmbH & Co. KG

Key Trends and Insights:

- High-Speed Data Transmission: The increasing adoption of high-speed data transmission technologies, such as USB, HDMI, and Ethernet, is driving the demand for board-to-board connectors with enhanced signal integrity and bandwidth capabilities.

- Miniaturization and High-Density Interconnects: The trend towards miniaturization in electronic devices is driving the development of compact board-to-board connectors with high-density interconnects, enabling space-saving designs and improved system performance.

- Modular and Stackable Designs: Modular and stackable board-to-board connector designs offer flexibility and scalability, allowing manufacturers to customize interconnect solutions for specific application requirements and simplify assembly processes.

- Industry 4.0 and IoT Integration: The integration of board-to-board connectors in Industry 4.0 and IoT devices and systems is driving the demand for rugged, reliable, and high-performance connectors capable of withstanding harsh operating environments and facilitating seamless data connectivity.

Market Drivers:

- Increasing Electronics Integration: The growing integration of electronics in automotive, telecommunications, and consumer electronics applications is driving the demand for board-to-board connectors with higher pin counts, enhanced signal integrity, and compact form factors.

- Automotive Electronics Growth: The proliferation of electronic components in modern vehicles, including advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), infotainment systems, and electric vehicle (EV) platforms, is fueling the demand for board-to-board connectors with robust performance and reliability.

- Emerging Technologies Adoption: The adoption of emerging technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT) is driving the need for board-to-board connectors capable of supporting high-speed data transmission, power delivery, and signal integrity in next-generation electronic devices and systems.

Conclusion:

The Board-to-Board Connectors market presents lucrative opportunities for stakeholders across various industries, driven by technological advancements, industry-specific applications, and the growing demand for compact, high-speed, and reliable interconnect solutions. Understanding market segmentation, key trends, and growth drivers is essential for companies to capitalize on the expanding market landscape and address the evolving connectivity needs of modern electronic devices and systems.