Page 1 - CONNECTOR TRENDS FOR INFOTAINMENT AND DRIVER-ASSIST APPLICATIONS
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PUBLISHED ARTICLE








        CONNECTOR TRENDS

        FOR INFOTAINMENT AND


        DRIVER-ASSIST APPLICATIONS



        AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

        BY MIKE GARDNER | MOLEX INCORPORATED

                                             feature cited by 2014 vehicle owners.  are designed to meet OEM preferences

                                                                                  and application demands. Plastic
                                             Traditional wiring approaches such as
                                                                                  features provide keying, terminal position
                                             terminals, wire, crimp, poke, seals, and
                                                                                  assurance (TPA), and connector position
                                             wire harnessing assembly boards can
                                                                                  assurance (CPA) with secondary latching
                                             become unwieldy, driving up vehicle
                                                                                  innovations for secure mating.
                                             weight, cost, and complexity, without

                                             commensurately driving up value.     Bandwidth demands brought CAN,

                                             Exciting developments in automotive   FlexRay, MOST Bus, and other

                                             connectors and cables are helping    technologies into vehicle applications.

                                             simplify designs in this era of digital cars.   Twisted pair wires introduced new

                                             Automotive connector technologies can   complexities for connector and wiring
          Molex HS Auto Link connector
                                             save space in and lower overall cost of   harness investment and infrastructure.
                                             vehicles’ sophisticated electronic systems.  The automotive industry improved
        Traditional wiring approaches for
        automotive electronics can be unwieldy,
        driving up vehicle weight, costs, and
        complexity, without commensurately
        driving up value. Molex explains the
        five levels of interconnect technology
        advancement in the era of digital.
        Electronics make nearly every vehicle
        feature a reality. Popular automotive
        infotainment, integrated smart phone
        connectivity, turn-by-turn navigation,
        and driver-assist applications are pushing
        in-vehicle bandwidth and connectivity to
        new heights.
        A decade ago, the average cost for
        automotive electronics represented about
        20% of total manufacturing costs. Today
        that figure has jumped to 30% – 35%
        or higher. Automakers understand the   The automotive world has five distinct
        value of using electronics to differentiate   levels of connector trends, as seen in   processes from the early days of simply
        their models: Increasingly, car buyers   the graphic above. Each brings different   twisting post-terminated wires; flash
        expect high-end infotainment, safety,   challenges and disruptions to the more   forward to highly automated equipment
        and other features to come standard in   traditional automotive connector systems   delivering precise twisting and placement
        new vehicles. A recent study in Consumer   of generations past.           of splice connections along a cable
        Reports found that drivers were less   The traditional “crimp-and-poke”   run. While significant improvements in
        brand-loyal, as they gravitate to models   approach represents the first level.   twisted-pair technology were realized,
        equipped with standard “luxury” in-  Sealed and unsealed connector solutions   the approach only advanced connectivity
        dash electronics. However, equipment   support signal or power, where a range   performance by one level. Twisted-pair
        reliability and design complexity matter.   of terminals with post sizes 2.8mm,   wire technologies essentially blended the
        Overly complicated infotainment      1.5mm, 1.2mm, 0.64mm, and 0.50mm     same cable and connector systems from
        equipment was the most troublesome                                        the first level.
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