When one printed circuit board (PCB) is interconnected to another PCB, a connector may be used. As an example, two PCBs may be interconnected or “mated” through one or more card-edge connectors.
In some applications, a first PCB may be mated to a second PCB that is perpendicular to the first PCB, such as when a card is connected to a perpendicular backplane or midplane through one-piece card-edge connectors.
When designing an interconnection between two PCBs using connectors, different design factors may come into play. In particular, as data signal speeds increase (e.g. data rates greater than 10 gigabits per second), signal path impedance and crosstalk may become greater factors in the design. Other design considerations may include tolerance of the materials, signal density, mating accuracy, and isolation from other signal and noise sources within the system and externally.