STRADA Whisper DPO Connectors

Direct Plug Orthogonal Backplane Solutions Provide Best In Class Electrical Performance and Density.

TE Connectivity (TE), a world leader in connectivity and sensors, today announced its new STRADA Whisper direct plug orthogonal (DPO) connectors, which enable designers to eliminate midplane connectivity to reduce costs and improve airflow in switches, servers, base stations and other types of communications equipment. STRADA Whisper DPO connectors are an extension of TE’s STRADA Whisper backplane connector family. Developed for high-performing, high-bandwidth systems, the STRADA Whisper family employs a revolutionary design that transfers data at speeds of 25 Gigabits per second (Gbps) and offers scalability up to 56 Gbps (PAM4 and NRZ)—allowing engineers to achieve efficient future system upgrades without costly backplane or midplane redesigns.

The mechanical design of TE’s STRADA Whisper DPO connectors helps mitigate typical mechanical challenges of DPOs so that the cost and airflow benefits of removing a midplane can be realized. While leveraging the outstanding performance and scalability of the STRADA Whisper family, STRADA Whisper DPO connectors offer easy alignment and installation that maintains electrical performance even when the connector is not fully mated. The robust transition header connects existing STRADA Whisper Pair in Row (PiR) receptacles to STRADA Whisper Pair in Column (PiC) receptacles without sacrificing industry-leading electromagnetic interference (EMI) and crosstalk performance. The resulting rectangular design also provides better density than competitive square-shaped direct orthogonal products, allowing for higher card density and increased system bandwidth.

“The data center industry is trending toward DPO designs because they eliminate midplane connectivity to reduce system cost and clutter,” said Doug Lawrence, product manager, TE Data and Devices. “STRADA Whisper DPO connectors round out our STRADA Whisper high-speed backplane connector solutions to give designers a more complete range of flexible design options that support the latest architectures.”