Originally published at: Designing High-Speed PCB Connector Interfaces | Sierra Circuits
At 28-56-112 Gbps, a high-speed PCB connector is much more than a mechanical interface; it is an extension of the signal path. As data rates rise, even small electrical discontinuities become harder to ignore. A poorly designed connector interface, an interrupted reference plane, or a slight change in trace geometry can introduce reflections, insertion loss, and crosstalk. The challenge is that the connector cannot be designed independently. The launch geometry, transmission lines, and return paths must work together as one high-speed channel. In this article, we examine the key signal integrity challenges at high-speed connector interfaces and provide practical design…