What’s a Card Edge Connector?
A Card Edge Connector is the portion of a printed circuit board (PCB) consisting of traces leading to the edge of the board that are intended to plug into a matching socket. The edge connector is a money-saving device because it only requires a single discrete female connector (the male connector is formed out of the edge of the PCB), and they also tend to be fairly robust and durable.
Card Edge Connector in PCB
These edge connectors are a style of connector system in which (typically) a pattern of exposed copper regions at the periphery of a printed circuit board constitutes one-half of a mating connector pair. A common use case being the connection of accessory cards, such as graphics accelerators to computer motherboards in desktop PC applications, they offer a relatively low-cost, high density interconnect option for PCB system applications where durability is not a primary concern.
Edge Connector Application
Card edge connectors are one of the classic connector designs widely applied in the data and communication industry. With a single female connector that is attached to the edge of a rigid PCB, rigid-flex board or flex circuit, these connectors are known for their capability to save both space and cost.
Standard like PCI Express defines the reliability and performance of edge connectors. From standard products to high-speed and high-power variants, there are a wide range of card edge solutions that support various applications.
Edge connectors are commonly applied in personal computers for connecting expansion cards and computer memory to the system bus. Example expansion peripheral technologies which use edge connectors include PCI, PCI Express, and AGP. Slot 1 and Slot A also used edge connectors; the processor being mounted on a card with an edge connector, instead of directly to the motherboard as before and since.
Types
- AMC / AMC B+ Connectors
- PCI Express / PCI Connectors
- Micro TCA Connectors
- Standard Card Edge Connectors