Background: Aiming for the high-end consumer electronics market, the latest addition in the customer’s range was again a redesign on existing technologies – creating a more compact variation allowing for less electronics space.
The Challenge: Multiple spring contacts required as contact points for different internal systems, all with minimal footprint and supplied ready for automated placement.
Harwin Solution: Harwin’s spring contacts provided the right combination of footprint, contact height and spring force, supplied in tape and reel packaging.
The HYPERBOLOID contact is an advanced design that satisfies performance requirements previously considered impossible. Radically different in concept, it is used in connectors having the highest standards of performance. The distinguishing feature of the HYPERBOLOID socket is the hyperboloid-shaped sleeve formed by straight wires strung at an angle to the longitudinal axis. Viewed from the side, you see a curve defined by a series of apparent short straight line segments which are tangent lines to points along a hyperbolic curve. This geometry provides for a design which has a decreasing circumscribed circle when viewed from the entry. It begins larger than the pin acceptance diameter and is less than this same diameter at the center. When the pin is inserted into this sleeve, the wires stretch, well within elastic limits, to accommodate it. In so doing, the wires wrap themselves around the pin providing a number of continuous line contact paths.
The actual physical construction of the contact involves several components. The wires are strung on an internal wire carrier (inner sleeve) which is subsequently capped or enclosed by a front outer ring (front sleeve) and rear ring which includes the termination configuration (terminal). All components to the assembly are completely finished with the specified electroplating prior to assembly. The wires are continuous process plated on reel before use. In this manner, interface finish requirements can be controlled very closely without the common problems of gradient, shadow, or other finish imperfections often appearing in alternative designs. Very often, this processing feature permits the specifier to reduce precious metal content with resultant savings. Joints are calculated interference fits, insuring gas tight interfaces between all elements of the HYPERBOLOID construction.
The unique geometry, precision processing, and careful attention to quality result in a highly desirable contact design which provides:
VLIF (Very Low Insertion Force): Common sizes #22 and less average under one ounce per contact.
Extraordinary Resistance to Shock & Vibration: Tests exceeding 300 g’s without discontinuity.
Duty Cycle Exceeding 100,000 Mate/Demate: The burnishing action of the wires on the pin surface is nondestructive. Unlike the “plow” and scrape action of common designs, HYPERBOLOID’s gentle mating action enhances life.
Low, Low Contact Resistance: The multiplicity of line contact, as opposed to point contact in other designs, provides an excellent interface exhibiting low contact resistance (often less than 1/2 of MIL spec. allowances). This characteristic also provides for a cooler running contact under load.
Improved Current Carrying Capacity: The low contact resistance gives a lower °C rise from ambient under load. This feature often allows the user to operate the same size contact under higher load.
Highest Reliability: In use for over 40 years under the most demanding conditions HYPERBOLOID has proven itself to be the leading design for integrity and reliability. On space platforms, ships and boats at sea, land vehicles, fighter and transport aircraft, missiles, torpedoes, medical and transplant electronics, industrial and environmental controls, rail, construction, ATE and test equipment, PGA sockets, test interface stations, and other applications, HYPERBOLOID has lived up to its promise of the highest reliability connector available.
Precision engineering changes the way farmers manage crops, control pest infestations, take soil samples, and irrigate fields. Driven by Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and wireless technology; precision agriculture advancements continue to improve crop yields, maximize operational efficiencies, and support cost-effective farming.
Field mapping
-uses GNSS to record and map the locations of rocks, potholes, power lines, poorly drained fields, pest infestations, and field fertility variations.
Tractor swath path optimization
-applies GPS to automate parallel tracking for improved operator efficiency.
Soil moisture and irrigation sensors employ
-GPS wireless technology to record moisture levels, so farmers can automatically measure, gauge, and redistribute water without manual field inspections.
Crop yield improvements
-leverage GNSS and GPS wireless data transfer technology to manage strip-till furrows, control seed usage, and minimize double planting; making farms more efficient.
Antenna Considerations
Antennas are key to accurate and successful implementation of wireless solutions for today’s modern farms.
Differential correction uses a dual-band GNSS system to mitigate the slightest errors in GPS locations caused by signal delay, multipath, satellite orbit, or timing synchronization discrepancies
GPS references accurately pick up at least three separate satellites to triangulate latitude and longitude positions plus a fourth satellite to determine elevation.
Multiband frequencies and GPS in a single radome are ideal for rovers that need to communicate with a reference base station located within five miles
Low noise characteristics prevent the GPS antenna from interfering with other on-board system communications.
Rugged design minimizes exposure to harsh chemicals, diesel fuel, axle grease, and petroleum-based products that eat away at rubber compounds.
Environmental testing ensures optimal performance during vibration, extreme temperatures, and agrochemical exposure.
Antenna Solutions
8117D Elevated Feed Antennas relays satellite positioning information to the management center and receives the differential signal from the base station BOA series antenna to improve accuracy at the sub-meter level.
Taitien provides TCXO and OCXO solutions to major international satellite communication companies looking for critical frequency components. Up/down converters are essential in satellite communication in Ka- and Ku bands, and critical components include oscillators with high-frequency, low-phase noise performance. With the coming of high-throughput satellites and LEOs on a large scale, the aerospace industry has entered the New Space Era and end-user ground receivers for satellite communications will be widely adopted in vehicles and ships in every corner of the world. Taitien’s newly launched high frequency and low g-sensitivity TCXO, high-precision OCXO, timing module and atomic clock modules feature excellent frequency stability, ultra-low phase noise and ultra-low aging, making them optimal for ground station applications.
The new Trooper™ Max 5G FR1 antenna platform has been designed to PCTEL’s high quality and performance standards. Configurable and optimized for multiband applications, the platform is ideal for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Public Safety applications because of the incorporation of the UHF/TETRA option through the external whip port for LMR connectivity.
With a slender shark fin form factor, and reliability, this antenna platform is recommended for installation on today’s leading Public Safety fleets. The Trooper Max antenna platform is compatible with the world’s leading cellular routers supporting 600 MHz to 6 GHz frequencies. It also covers Wi-Fi 6 frequency ranges.
Today’s communication systems require more precise network synchronization and holdover performance. With the transition to 5G and beyond, packet-based networks makes sync technology more challenging as they do not naturally deliver synchronization. Similarly, with the development of today’s smart power grid, network synchronization precision is playing an ever-increasing important role calling for ultra-high precision timing synchronization and holdover capability.
The network’s ability to maintain time or holdover is critical so selecting a well thought out strategy is the first step. Taitien’s brand new ultra-high precision DT-5151 Disciplined Crystal Oscillator is the ideal solution. By combining the best of class precision oscillators with a proprietary adaptive algorithm, Taitien’s DT-5151 series achieve the standard of atomic-based oscillator performance. This series is engineered to control its internal phase error to within 1 ns through disciplining to an external one pulse per second (1PPS) signal broadcast by GPS. It offers an excellent frequency output with an accuracy reaching <±10-12 and its holdover ability reaching <±1.5 us within 24 hours.
Key Features: • 24 hours Holdover < ±1.5 us, ±10˚C temperature change • 1 pps input and 1 pps output for 1 pps synchronization • 1 ns in phase and <10-12 in frequency • 1 second continuous phase measurement and report system with high resolution≦ 1ns • Time of Day (ToD) • RS232 digital interface • 5 MHz / 10 MHz / HCMOS outputs • Operating temperature from -20˚C to 70˚C • Proprietary adaptive algorithm • 51 x 51 x 23 mm
Applications: • Radar • Broadcast • IoT Master clock • Smart power grid • Clock reference • High precise sever • Telecommunication base stations • Test and measurement equipment
Harwin has expanded the contact layout options of its Gecko-MT high-reliability (Hi-Rel) connectors. Announced at Electronica in Munich, the new variants have been added to complement the existing symmetrical 2-power/8-signal and 4-power/8-signal layouts.
There are 6 new contact arrangements that feature 2 to 6 power contacts and 4 to 24 signal contacts. These have a non-symmetrical structure, with the power contacts situated at one end and the data contacts at the other. The power contacts have a 10A current rating, and the signal contacts are rated for 2.8A (maximum).
A range of hardware fixings are available for each contact layout. Both male and female connectors can be supplied in either standard gender or reverse fix. There are front and rear panel mount options, plus board-mount fixings to reduce any strain placed on solder joints. In total, 72 extra Gecko-MT connector variants have been added.
As with all the Gecko connectors in our HRi product offering, these latest variants have high resilience to shock and vibration, plus compact size and lightweight construction. They support a -65°C to +150°C operating temperature range, and 1,000 (minimum) mating cycle durability. Evaluation samples are available on request.
As Ryan Smart, Head of Product Management at Harwin, notes: “Our Gecko-MT range has already proved very popular with our customers in the aviation, space and high-end industrial markets. These components provide a very effective way of reducing component count and saving PCB real estate by taking care of both power and data delivery.
Based on customer demand for a greater scope of different options, we’ve scaled up the number of variants. There is now a much wider choice of power and signal configurations, fitted with all our locking mechanism variations.”
All of our Gecko-MT connectors can be rapidly shipped from stock. We can also provide a cable assembly service on all Gecko connectors – supplying ready-made, full inspected harnesses.
Application: Location and Temperature reporting from Servo Motors.
Background: Encoders are an important part of modern servo motors, ensuring that the control system obtains high resolution feedback from the motor operation. This includes positioning and health status.
The Challenge: With the reducing size of space envelopes for motors, the encoder must also be minimized. The internal connectors must be robust to withstand a variety of demanding environments. For improvements in automated manufacture, the terminations need to be shorter for use with Pin-In-Hole reflow (PIHR) solder processes and delivered in tape-and-reel packaging.
Harwin Solution: The Datamate L-Tek range now includes 2- and 3-contact male PCB connectors with 2mm terminations, suitable for PIHR processing. These connectors are packaged in tape-and-reel. By using the Datamate L-Tek design as a base, these connectors are already compact, robust, and proven in challenging applications.
Normally thickness of diaphragm is a constant. But in LSR technology, thickness and pattern of each section can be defined by designer.
The flexible LSR injection unit is different from the various process designs. It can quickly sample and provide customer samples.
Overcoming the problem of adhesion between dissimilar materials through different structural design (biting) and process technology (surface treatment / self-adhesive)
LSR can produce optical lens with high temperature resistance properties (can resist heat < 180 degree C)
Advantages of LSR
Excellent Heat Resistance: can withstand more than 10,000 hours of continued service at 200°C (392F).
Cold Resistance: can be used at –50 °C cold temperature.
High tear and tensile strength
Great flexibility
Weather ability
Exceed similar materials in insulating ability
Non-conductive
Radiation Resistance
Steam Resistance
Chemical, Oil and Solvent Resistance
Against Bending Fatigue
Vibration Absorption
Transparency and Coloration
Non-Stickiness and Corrosion Resistance
Core Capability
By well controlling the injection molding process with precision tools and all the high-end equipments, we can realize the designated contour to show the best image performance.
Taitien has been manufacturing quartz frequency control products for consumer electronics and high-end applications since 1976. Forty years on, the Taiwan-based company has expanded its operations worldwide, boasting manufacturing facilities across Taiwan, the US, and China.
Regularly named among the top five-thousand large scale enterprises in Taiwan, it’s no surprise that Taitien has built a reputation as a leader in the quartz industry given that it is the first in Taiwan who possessed the capability and production capacity in manufacturing their own quartz bars and High-Frequency Fundamental (HFF) inverted-mesa blanks.
With over twenty invention patents to its name, the company remains dedicated to research and development, investing around 4.4% of its revenue back into new technologies. Such an approach will no doubt prove crucial to meeting the new technical threshold for ultra-precise frequency controls that’s emerged during the race to 5G.
The Importance of Frequency Controls Frequency control is a fundamental part of most electronic products. In crystal oscillators, quartz removes noise and stabilizes the frequency as it transmits a signal, thereby improving the accuracy of timekeeping, positioning, and navigating.
They can therefore be used across a vast range of applications, from high-end applications in aerospace to regular consumer electronics, like clocks and phones. Taitien points to wireless, wired, data centers, and industrial/consumer as four main application areas of quartz components. Hence, it’s vital that companies producing frequency control products have access to vast quantities of it.
Taitien claims to be the pioneer in Taiwan possessing the technology to produce their own quartz. ‘We are one of the two leading companies in the world – following Epson – that possesses the photolithography technology used to produce HFF inverted-mesa blanks,’ says C.Y. Teng, Director of R&D at Taitien.
What Kind of Products does Taitien Offer?
Timing Modules Among Taitien’s most popular products are its timing modules, which includes the DT-6565. Using GPS Disciplined Oscillators to ensure accuracy down to the nanosecond, these modules can be used for timekeeping and positioning in many different contexts – be it in radars, satellites, or critical infrastructure.
The DT-6565 is remarkable because its timekeeping capabilities are almost identical to that of an atomic clock, with a holdover performance of 1.5us over twenty-four hours. This greatly outperforms the industry standard for similar-sized timing modules.
OCXO Oven Controlled Crystal Oscillators heat quartz in an ‘oven’, protecting the crystal from external changes in temperature, gravity, and vibration. This ensures that the frequency and performance of the oscillator is both highly stable and accurate.
As a result of their continued research into environmental resistance, Taitien’s OCXOs have an exceptionally low aging rate of just 0.2 ppm a year, while the phase noise floor (which can reach -180dBc/Hz) is far lower than competing products.
With 5G here to stay, the demand for OCXO is on the rise; to operate a small 5G base station currently requires at least one OCXO, while a larger station could require more than ten. Given that Taitien is currently one of the only OCXO manufacturers in Asia (accounting for over 3% of the OCXO global market share), the company looks to benefit massively from the race to 5G. ‘Our OCXOs are largely used in network communication for large base stations – customers include well-known manufacturers like NSN and Huawei,’ says C.Y. Teng.
Maneuvering the Pandemic, Looking to the Future Unlike most companies, Taitien claims that due to the COVID-19 the demand for its products has increased. ‘Our supply chain was well-prepared even before the pandemic, while many of our competitors were unprepared to take orders,’ says C.Y. Teng. Between the pandemic and the onset of 5G, business is booming. It looks set to stay that way.
‘The arrival of 5G and the rise of AIoT has greatly shifted the technical threshold when it comes to quartz frequency control products. These new ventures require higher precision and higher environmental resistance, which our quartz-based frequency control products can provide. Maintaining production capacity to meet these new technical requirements will be key to ensuring continued success.’
