EYE on NPI - Hirose DF40F Series Board-to-Board Connectors

This week's EYE ON NPI is a sweet valentine, as the Bard famously spoke "What's in a connector? That which we call a Hirose DF40F Series Board-to-Board connector by any other word would smell as sweet" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_rose_by_any_other_name_would_smell_as_sweet). OK, well, maybe we chocolate-fudged that reference a bit but it's still a perfect day for lovers of reliable products from Hirose as today we're looking at the Hirose DF40F and friends (https://www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/h/hirose/df40f-series-board-to-board-connectors) - diamond-rock solid connectors that mate together perfectly like perfect partners. Ok, I know your number one question, it's how to pronounce Hirose (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4wd9qEZV5A) - is it "high rose"? We got ya, it's "hero say"! And they are definitely heroes when it comes to designing connectors, with well-thought-out components that you probably use all the time. For example, did you know that the ultra-popular u.FL connector (https://www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/h/hirose/ufl-series) used almost in every RF product is from Hirose (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirose_U.FL), patented by them in 1993 (https://patents.google.com/patent/US5180315)? Hirose DF40 connectors have popped up in many developer boards, due to their high density and ease-of-use. The first time we saw them was on the Intel Edison boards (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Edison), which featured a 70-pin DF40 (https://www.adafruit.com/product/2227) for high speed USB or SDIO interfaces. More recently, the same DF40 family is seen on the popular Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/raspberry-pi/SC0696/13530919), as dual 100 pin connectors that pass USB, Ethernet, PCIe, eMMC, DVI, DSI and CSI MIPI, and DPI parallel TFT displays. You can check out Shawn Hymel's guide on making an adapter board for the CM4 if you want tips on laying out and soldering DF40's (https://www.digikey.com/en/maker/projects/creating-a-raspberry-pi-compute-module-4-cm4-carrier-board-in-kicad/7812da347e5e409aa28d59ea2aaea490) And looking at the specs for the DF40 series (https://www.hirose.com/product/series/DF40) we see that these connectors are very well 'rounded': they can handle high voltages like 30V AC or DC, high speeds up to 10 Gbps, and fairly high currents 0.3A per pin - just double or triple up pins if you need more current capacity. That means you don't need separate power connectors and can power single board linux computers like the CM4 directly over the same connectors that pass HDMI and PCIe data for reliable and compact connectivity. Compared to 2.54mm or 2mm pitch headers, you don't have to worry about pins getting bent or the high offset height from IDC connectors because the Hirose DF40 series can be as low as 2mm, or as high as 4mm if you need height for component clearance. They're good for at least 30 mating cycles, with grooves to help align for easy mate and de-mate, just make sure to press down flat in the center and lift from two opposite edges so you minimize torque. If you have a submodule or multi-stacked board design and you need a low-profile, high-speed and high-power connector, the Hirose DF40F series of board-to-board connectors (https://www.digikey.com/short/dnr4r5j1) is trusted and reliable by many. I think of Hirose as the "YKK Zippers" of connectors (https://ykkamericas.com/products/zippers/): if you design a $100 board and it fails because of a poorly crafted $1 connector, the quality and reputation of your product is damaged - but if you use a reliable, enjoyable connector that makes good contact each time, the quality and reputation is enhanced! You can order DF40 and DF40F series in a wide series of sizes and configurations from DigiKey (https://www.digikey.com/short/dt70d4t0) all in stock right now and available for immediate shipment, like FTD (https://www.ftd.com/). Book today and your favorite Hirose connectors will ship instantly so that you can get to stacking and snapping by tomorrow afternoon.