An integration bench, two stacked boards, a high-speed link between them running flawlessly, until the shaker starts. Frame errors appear, vanish, then come back. No clean break, nothing visible to the eye: just micro-interruptions a few nanoseconds long, exactly where no one thinks to look: at the interface between the two boards.
If you have ever spent days chasing an intermittent fault that only shows up under vibration, you know this scenario. In an embedded system, the board-to-board link is one of the most heavily stressed interfaces, and one of the last to be suspected when a fault appears.
The real problem isn't “the contact”, it's its continuity under stress
This kind of link relies on a connector known as a mezzanine, in which the two boards stack one on top of the other. It is often reduced to “getting signals from one board to another.” In practice, the real challenge lies elsewhere.
In fine-pitch contact, the bearing points are few, and the contact force is limited. While that may be enough in static conditions, in harsh environments (shock, vibration, thermal cycling) the contact undergoes micro-movements lasting only a few nanoseconds. At 1 Gbps, a micro-interruption may go unnoticed. At 25 Gbps, it shows up as a frame error, a resync, an intermittent fault that is impossible to reproduce on the bench. The problem is almost never “the signal”: it is contact continuity under mechanical stress.
On top of that sit three constraints, each already demanding on its own:
- Raising data rates without blowing up the footprint: your high-speed links move to tens of Gbps, while the SWaP budget (Size, Weight and Power) keeps shrinking.
- Fixing a stack height that changes from one project to the next, without requalifying a connector every time.
- Securing supply over the long term: on a defense or space program spanning several years, the availability and durability of the source become as critical as performance.
It is the sum of these requirements (density, speed, ruggedness, mechanical flexibility, sovereignty) that makes the topic difficult and explains why a general-purpose COTS connector rarely meets 100% of the need.
The approach: ruggedness first, density second
Most high-density mezzanine connectors were designed for commercial markets and later adapted for harsh environments. Nicomatic took the opposite route: designing a platform built first for shock, vibration and extreme temperatures, then densifying it. That is the principle behind the Matr'YX, a 1 mm pitch board-to-board mezzanine connector for defense, aerospace and space applications.
Its most important feature: 4 contact points per socket, a rare characteristic for a 1 mm pitch connector. In practice, each line has four redundant paths instead of one. The documented result: a micro-interruption of less than 1 ns under 30 G of vibration, with reliability maintained over time. This is precisely the answer to the problem described above: the intermittent fault solved at the source.
On that rugged base, the platform addresses the other constraints:
- High density: over 70 contacts per cm², from 49 to 301 contacts (in steps of 21), lead-free BGA termination at 1 mm pitch: more signals in less space.
- High speed: 12.5 Gbps NRZ, 25 Gbps PAM-4, compliant with the JESD-204B standard, to keep up with modern serial links without splitting the interface.
- Adjustable stack height: from 5.5 mm to 14.5 mm (heights H1 to H5). The connector adapts to your mechanics, not the other way round (with the same part family from one project to the next).
- Compliant with the MIL 55302 standard, rated −55 °C / +125 °C, shock of 100 g / 6 ms, vibration of 30 gRMS (5–2000 Hz), humidity and salt spray, high-temperature LCP insulator, thick gold on the active area.
- Secured supply: an ITAR-free connector, designed by a French manufacturer, to secure a defense or space program throughout its entire lifecycle.
Do you have a multi-board project that must withstand shock and vibration? Share your target data rate, stack height and environmental constraints with us, and our engineers will tell you whether the Matr'YX fits and how.