A new application with advanced features using cutting edge technology is being introduced to the market every other day. This, in turn is mounting the requirement of high speed high reliable connector solutions. PCI Express® (PCIe) is a popular standard for various applications from small, mobile devices to IoT sensors and servers to networking and communications equipment. To meet various application requirements, PCI-SIG has introduced multiple form factors and connector types suiting different applications.

 

What is CEM?

 

CEM or Card Electromechanical specification is one of the most common form factors used by PCIe® connectors. The CEM baseline specifications are considered as a benchmark reference for many mechanical form factors, whereas CEM add-in cards are widely used in many popular applications from graphics cards within PCs to data centers. These form factors are both forward and backward compatible and hence provide consistent user experience.

 

PCIe®Gen 4 & Gen 5 CEM Connectors

 

Amphenol offers PCIe® Gen 4 & Gen 5 CEM connectors that meet and outperform industry standard PCIe® 4.0 and 5.0 with enhanced speed performance. Footprint compatible with PCIe Gen 3/2/1, these optimized series supports backwards mating and supports higher speed performance without altering footprint.

Offered in 1.00mm pitch these, vertical card edge connectors provide support for 2.5GT/s for first generation PCIe®, 5.0GT/s for Gen 2, 8.0GT/s for Gen 3 to 16GT/s for Gen 4 and, even further to 32GT/s per differential signal pair, providing an option for customers to upgrade directly to next-generation systems without additional cost in system redesign. The base connector family provides x1, x4, x8, or x16 link widths to provide excellent performance and additional options for extreme bandwidth applications.

Generally used in I/O cards in desktop PCs, the basic bandwidth (x1) version supports a single PCI Express lane. Whereas, the x4 and x8 connectors provide 64 and 98 contacts respectively for server I/O. Amphenol, also offers the high bandwidth versions with x16 lanes and more, which are used in applications that require even more bandwidth, such as graphics cards in desktop PCs or riser cards in servers.

Available in wide range of positions, our expansive range of vertical PCIe® Gen 4 and Gen 5 CEM connectors comes with options for surface mount (SMT), through hole solder, press-fit (PF) and straddle mount terminations. Apart from vertical PCIe Gen 4 connectors, we also provide right angle SMT connectors. An optional ridge feature can be added to these connectors based on customer preference. Amphenol’s CEM connector has superior impedance, insertion loss and return loss when compared to competitors’ products in the market.

 

PCIe® Gen 4 and Gen 5 CEM with Latch

 

We also have PCIe® Gen 4 and Gen 5 SMT connectors with latch ideal for holding heavy GPU cards. These SMT connectors are offered with two types of latches - side latch and locked latch. Both of them are capable for withstanding over 265°C reflow temperature without melting. Side latch comes with enough tenacity to be rotated while loading GPU card. Both these connectors are offered with 1.00mm pitch in 164 Positions.

Read more about our PCIe® Gen 4 and Gen5 CEM connectors and our extended range of PCIe® and Card Edge Connectors.