U.S. patent application number 11/775373 was filed with the patent office on 2007-11-01 for single elastomeric connector system to support rf, digital, audio and dc signals.
This patent application is currently assigned to UTSTARCOM, INC. Invention is credited to Shanquan Bao, Liming Gao, Taojin Le, Bin Luo, Hongqi Wu.
Application Number | 20070254503 11/775373 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38564044 |
Filed Date | 2007-11-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070254503 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Bao; Shanquan ; et
al. |
November 1, 2007 |
SINGLE ELASTOMERIC CONNECTOR SYSTEM TO SUPPORT RF, DIGITAL, AUDIO
AND DC SIGNALS
Abstract
A connector system employs a first connector moiety on an
insertable miniaturized form factor card. A mobile information
device (MID) has a printed circuit board having a second connector
moiety with a frame mounted on the MID PCB for receiving the card
and having a slot for engagement of an elastomeric connector
element in alignment with the second connector moiety. The card is
positioned by the frame for alignment of the first connector moiety
with the elastomeric connector element. The elastomeric connector
element is a single integrated element. The first connector moiety
incorporates a plurality of contact pads on the card and the second
connector moiety incorporates a like plurality of contact pads on
the MID PCB. The contact pads include at least a first set of RF
pads and the signals on the first and second connector moieties are
arranged for cross talk shielding in the elastomeric connector.
Inventors: |
Bao; Shanquan; (Alameda,
CA) ; Gao; Liming; (Alameda, CA) ; Le;
Taojin; (Hangzhou, CN) ; Luo; Bin; (Hangzhou,
CN) ; Wu; Hongqi; (Chengdu, CN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
UTSTARCOM, INC.;c/o FELIX L. FISCHER, ATTORNEY AT LAW
1607 MISSION DRIVE
SUITE 204
SOLVANG
CA
93463
US
|
Assignee: |
UTSTARCOM, INC
1275 Harbor Bay Parkway
Alameda
CA
94502
|
Family ID: |
38564044 |
Appl. No.: |
11/775373 |
Filed: |
July 10, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11308559 |
Apr 6, 2006 |
|
|
|
11775373 |
Jul 10, 2007 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
439/81 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 1/0274 20130101;
H04M 1/72412 20210101; H04B 1/3816 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
439/081 |
International
Class: |
H01R 12/00 20060101
H01R012/00 |
Claims
1. A connector system comprising: a first connector moiety on an
insertable miniaturized form factor card; a mobile information
device (MID) printed circuit board having a second connector
moiety; a frame mounted on the MID PCB for receiving the card and
having a slot for engagement of an elastomeric connector element in
alignment with the second connector moiety, the card positioned by
the frame for alignment of the first connector moiety with the
elastomeric connector element; the first and second connector
moieties having signal arrangement for cross talk shielding in the
Elastomeric connector.
2. The connector system defined in claim 1 wherein the first
connector moiety comprises a plurality of contact pads on the card
and the second connector moiety comprises a like plurality of
contact pads on the MID PCB.
3. The connector system defined in claim 2 wherein the contact pads
incorporate a first set of RF pads.
4. The connector system defined in claim 3 wherein the contact pads
incorporate a second set of RF pads.
5. The connector system defined in claim 4 wherein the first set of
RF pads is located at a first end of the connector moiety and the
second set of RF pads is located at a second end of the connector
moiety.
6. The connector system defined in claim 3 wherein the first set of
RF pads incorporates a first RF ground pad, a second RF ground pad
and an RF signal pad intermediate the first and second ground
pads.
7. The connector system defined in claim 6 wherein the first and
second RF ground pads have a larger footprint than adjacent
pads.
8. The connector system defined in claim 2 wherein noisy digital
pads are shielded using adjacent ground pads.
9. The connector system defined in claim 8 wherein noisy digital
pads are further shielded using low speed digital pads.
10. The connector system defined in claim 9 wherein the ordering of
signal pads comprises RF pin|RF and Digital Ground|DC Power|Audio
Pins (Speaker&Mic)|Digital Ground|SIM Pin|UART|Digital
Ground|USB|Keypad pins|Digital Ground|LCD/Camera Bus.
11. A method for connection of a miniaturized form factor card on a
mobile information device printed circuit board comprising the
steps of: providing a frame on the MID PCB to receive the card;
providing a first connector moiety on the card; providing an
elastomeric connector constrained by the frame and contacting a
second connector moiety on the MID PCB; arranging signals on the
first and second connector moieties for cross talk shielding in the
elastomeric connector
12. The method of claim 11 in which providing the first connector
moiety comprises the step of forming a plurality of contact pads on
a PCB in the card and a like plurality of pads on the MID PCB.
13. The method of claim 12 in which the step of arranging signals
includes the step of providing first set of RF pads.
14. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of providing a first
set of RF pads includes providing a first RF ground pad, a second
RF ground pad and an RF signal pad intermediate the first and
second ground pads.
15. The method of claim 13 in which the step of arranging signals
further includes the step of providing a second set of RF pads.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein the second set of RF pads is
located on an opposite end of the connector moiety from the first
set of RF pads.
17. The method of claim 12 in which the step of arranging the
signals includes the steps of shielding noisy digital pads using
adjacent ground pads.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the step of arranging the
signals further includes shielding using low speed digital
pads.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of arranging the
signals includes arranging the pads in the order of RF pin, RF and
Digital Ground, DC Power, Audio Pins (Speaker&Mic), Digital
Ground, SIM Pin, UART, Digital Ground, USB, Keypad pins, Digital
Ground, LCD/Camera Bus.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S.
application Ser. No. 11/308,559 filed on Apr. 6, 2006 entitled
CONNECTOR FOR A HIGHLY INTEGRATED, INSTALLABLE MINIATURIZED FORM
FACTOR CARD FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS FUNCTIONS having a common
assignee with the present invention the disclosure of which is
incorporated herein as though fully set forth.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Related Art
[0002] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/308,221 filed on Mar.
13, 2006 entitled MINIATURIZED FORM FACTOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS
CARD FOR GENERIC MOBILE INFORMATION DEVICES, having a common
assignee with the present invention and which is incorporated
herein by reference in its entirety as though fully set forth,
provides a system that allows communications capability to be
inserted into a mobile information device without the usual lead
times for design of wireless communications directly into the
device itself. This system using a miniaturized form factor card
provides the ability to integrate hardware, software, utilities and
drivers which will allow true plug and play functionality for end
users or mobile information device design houses. The desired
functional capability is provided through an insertable card to
eliminate the requirement for a separate CPU or applications
processor in the mobile information device and additionally,
provides a complete modem solution that will support multi-mode and
multi-band.
[0003] Many insertable cards for communications capability will
include digital, Direct Current (DC), Radio Frequency (RF) and
audio frequency signal connection requirements with the mobile
information devices in which the cards are inserted. It is
therefore desirable to provide a connector system which simplifies
the arrangement of the connector elements to reduce complexity and
increase reliability of the system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The present invention provides a connector system having a
first connector moiety on an insertable miniaturized form factor
card. A mobile information device (MID) has a printed circuit board
having a second connector moiety and a frame mounted on the MID PCB
for receiving the card and having a slot for engagement of an
elastomeric connector element in alignment with the second
connector moiety, the card positioned by the frame for alignment of
the first connector moiety with the elastomeric connector element.
The elastomeric connector element is a single integrated
element.
[0005] In an exemplary embodiment, the first connector moiety
incorporates a plurality of contact pads on the card and the second
connector moiety incorporates a like plurality of contact pads on
the MID PCB. Further, the contact pads include at least a first set
of RF pads and the signals on the first and second connector
moieties are arranged for cross talk shielding in the elastomeric
connector.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] These and other features and advantages of the present
invention will be better understood by reference to the following
detailed description when considered in connection with the
accompanying drawings wherein:
[0007] FIG. 1A is an isometric view of the elements of a connector
system for an insertable miniaturized form factor card for
employing the present invention;
[0008] FIG. 1B is an isometric view of the system of FIG. 1A
showing the printed circuit board (PCB) for the card and dual
elastomeric connector elements;
[0009] FIG. 2 is an isometric view of an exemplary embodiment of
the present invention with a frame and single elastomeric connector
element;
[0010] FIG. 3A is an exploded front section view of an embodiment
for contact pads on the miniaturized form factor card, MID and
associated elastomeric connector element; and
[0011] FIG. 3B is a bottom partial view of the contact pads on the
miniaturized form factor card as shown in FIG. 3A.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0012] To enhance the space savings and weight reduction to permit
more compact portable devices with flexible designs and integrate
chipsets with passive components into a common module, the system
provided in copending patent application Ser. No. 11/308,559 filed
on Apr. 6, 2006 entitled CONNECTOR FOR A HIGHLY INTEGRATED,
INSTALLABLE MINIATURIZED FORM FACTOR CARD FOR WIRELESS
COMMUNICATIONS FUNCTIONS, having a common assignee with the present
invention and which is incorporated herein by reference as though
fully set forth, employs integral connector systems having standard
interfaces and indexing for mating to PC boards within the mobile
information device platforms and to properly index and mate the
miniaturized form factor card. To further simplify the connector
system a single Elastomeric connector element in combination with
connection pad arrangement on the insertable miniaturized form
factor card and host Mobile Information Device (MID) is
employed.
[0013] FIGS. 1A and 1B show a connector system for employing
embodiments of the present invention having miniaturized form
factor card 10 received within a frame 12 mounted to PC board 14 in
a MID handset. Circuit connection to the MID PCB is provided in the
embodiment shown by two elastomeric connector elements 16a and 16b,
contained within connector receiving slots 18a and 18b in the
frame. The Elastomeric connector elements receive the mating
elements of a first connector moiety on the card. An exemplary
elastomeric connector is a STAX.TM. connector produced by Tyco
Electronics. For the digital signals connector, a STAX.TM. model LD
connector is employed in exemplary embodiments. The elastomeric
connector element engages contact pads on the PCB in the MID for
completing the circuit functionality.
[0014] The card is installed in the MID, for the embodiment of the
connector system shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, by insertion vertically
within frame 12 which receives the external edges 20 of the card. A
hinged cover 22 is provided on the frame to secure the entire card
within the frame after insertion, urging the connector moieties
into firm engagement. PCB 24 with the card covers removed is shown
in FIG. 1A with the elasomteric connector is shown exploded from
the slot in the frame for greater clarity.
[0015] As shown in FIG. 2, a single Elastomeric connector element
26 according to the present invention is received in a single slot
28 in the frame. To allow the miniaturized form factor card to use
one Elastomeric Connector to support RF, Digital, Audio and power
signals cross talk interference among these signals, particularly
cross talk interference among noisy high speed digital signals,
highly sensitive audio (speaker and microphone) and RF signals,
must be minimized. To accomplish cross talk reduction, the signals
are arranged in a unique principle or sequence. In an exemplary
ordering, RF pins are placed on one end of the connector for lowest
noise affect from other signals. High speed digital pins such as
USB, LCD bus are placed far away from RF and audio pins and digital
ground and DC power pins are used as shielding pads and inserted in
between noisy signal pins such as LCD pins and USB pins. Digital
ground or DC power pins can be combined into wider pins to achieve
improved shielding performance. Finally, low speed Digital pins
such as Keypad, SIM or GPIO are used as buffer pins in close
proximity to noisy signal pins such as UART.
[0016] As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, pad placement and size are
employed to achieve the desired shielding effects. For the
exemplary embodiment two sets of RF pins are employed at opposite
ends of the connector. Using the card connector moiety for
description of the contact pad arrangement, a first RF ground pin
30 and a second RF ground pin 32 employ a larger foot print in one
or both axes to provide shielding for RF pin 34. RF ground 32 is
shown with a double width as exemplary. Conductive layers 36 in the
elastomeric conductor element interconnect the contact pads on the
miniaturized form factor card and the MID PCB. For larger
transverse footprint pads such as the second RF ground pin 32, a
larger number of conductive layers, 38 and 40 as examples in the
drawing, are employed which based on the granular nature of the
conducting material in the elastomeric connector element, typically
layers of silver embedded in silicone rubber, further enhances the
shielding capability. For actual Elastomeric connector elements
employed in exemplary embodiments, pitch of the Conductive Layers
as low as 0.13 mm (0.005'') is employed which provides three to
four conductive layers typically in contact with 0.5 mm wide pads.
Three to four non-conductive layers typically separate adjacent 0.5
mm wide pads on 1.0 mm centers. The wide foot print ground pins in
the exemplary embodiment discussed above provide approximately 1.0
mm width thereby contacting double the number of conductive layers.
For the example embodiment in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the second set of RF
pins incorporate large footprint RF ground pads 42 and 44
surrounding a second RF pin 46. Placement of the second RF pin set
on the opposite end of the connector allows maximum segregation of
the two RF elements.
[0017] Continuing the pin description inboard from the first RF pin
set, a digital ground pad 48 is provided with an adjacent DC power
pad 50 followed by pads 52 for speaker and microphone signals. Low
speed digital signal pads 54, as described above, separate the
audio pins from the LCD bus 56. A digital ground pad 58 segregates
the LCD bus on the other side from low speed digital signal pad 60
which in turn further shields pad 62 which may be employed for SIM,
USB or UART connection. The second RF pin set is further shielded
using a second digital ground pad 64 adjacent the inner RF ground
pad.
[0018] An exemplary pin ordering for optimized shielding may
include an arrangement of RF pin|RF and Digital Ground|DC
Power|Audio Pins (Speaker&Mic)|Digital Ground|SIM
Pin|UART|Digital Ground|USB|Keypad pins|Digital Ground|LCD/Camera
Bus.
[0019] Having now described the invention in detail as required by
the patent statutes, those skilled in the art will recognize
modifications and substitutions to the specific embodiments
disclosed herein. Such modifications are within the scope and
intent of the present invention as defined in the following
claims.
* * * * *