Page 57 - Power & Data Connectivity Expand Electronic Capabilities eBook

The renewable energy sector follows industry closely. Wind turbines and solar farms supply fluctuating AC/DC power to intelligent conversion systems and large reservoir batteries before feeding metered energy to the smart grid. Numerous intelligent electronic devices (IED) in the grid monitor voltage, phase, current, and frequency of transformers and circuit breakers and feed diagnostic data through Ethernet gateways to the cloud. Big data and AI bring efficiency and reduce carbon emissions by effectively managing all aspects from generation to storage, and from transmission to distribution.
Role of connectors
Interconnect manufacturers work closely with equipment manufacturers and component suppliers to propose, develop, and test innovative prototypes and solutions that favor commercial rollout. High-speed data, high-power transmission, and space-savings are priorities, with an emphasis on how electromagnetic susceptibility, thermodynamics, and air flow affect contact pins, board traces, wires, and housing. Cost-to-performance ratio is tested with varying compositions of precious-metal-alloy plating. Recent advancements in interconnects like PCIe 6.0 and DDR5 have mirrored developments in peripheral and memory technologies. Encoding schemes like PAM4, and electro-magnetically compliant signaling rates as high as 50 GHz, have influenced form factors and interfaces like the QSFP-DD and MPO 32 Fiber. High-performance computing has influenced performance-oriented architectures like orthogonal midplane, overpass cabling, and cabled backplane systems.
» Amphenol’s Paladin Cabled Backplane solution »This400Gb/sQSFPDDR8transceiverissuitablefor transmits around 112G over PAM4 coding. high-end data center applications.
Some connector suppliers even double as system integrators of data center racks and switching cabinets by choosing the type of fiber, transceiver, cable length, or multiplexing scheme that can be scaled up to 400 Gb/s of bandwidth if the customer prefers a high-end solution.
Looking inside each sensor, driver, controller, meter, camera, plug, switch, or thermostat that mobilizes smart cities, buildings, and smart homes, we see connectors placed on or near motherboards, power supplies, batteries, keypads, radios, speakers, or motors. Some are input-output types like the USB or HDMI, some are board-to-board and wire- to-board, some are lighting socket compliant drivers based on Zhaga, and some are protected against harsh climates, water, and dust ingress.
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» Zhaga-based FLS Series lighting receptacles from Amphenol.