PC104, PC/104, pc104, p/c104, PC 104, pc 104, in2connect, ept, pc 104+, PC/104-plus

PC/104 and PC/104-Plus connectors from In2Connect

News Release from: In2Connect
04/06/2008

At the beginning of the 90s the demand for electronic goods such as PCs was huge in all sectors. The performance of the embedded microcomputer application grew rapidly, as did, unfortunately, the problem of creating a low-cost connection between two motherboards. Industry had to find a way to connect at least two motherboards together without needing to use a card cage or a backplane. In addition, the components had also to be easily separated or replaced at any time.

Although PC/104 modules have been manufactured since 1987, a formal specification was not published until 1992, when the PC/100 Embedded Consortium designed the first release of a mechanical and electrical specification of a connector that fully supported an 8bit/16/bit ISA bus. Since then, interest in PC/104 has skyrocketed, with over a hundred different PC/104 modules introduced by more than three dozen manufacturers. Like the original PC bus itself, PC/104 is the expression of an existing de facto standard, rather than being the invention and design of a committee. In 1992, the IEEE began a project to standardize a reduced form-factor implementation of the IEEE P996 (draft) specification for the PC and PC/AT buses, for embedded applications. The PC/104 Specification has been adopted as the base document for this new IEEE draft standard, called the P996.1 Standard for Compact Embedded-PC Modules. The advent of the PC104-Plus specification likewise supported the PCI bus.

Connector manufacturer ‘ept’ quickly recognized the market requirement and was the first to launch suitable connectors onto the market. These days In2Connect UK Ltd offer a broad range of ‘ept’ connectors for PC/104 and PC/104-Plus. The company can supply not only standard product versions but also single-row VarPol versions as well as versions with various numbers of poles. Female multipoint connectors, using press-fit or soldered technology, and press-fit multi-pin connectors are single-row or dual-row and straight or unwound. This means that we can offer all conceivable variations.

‘ept’ connectors stand out thanks to their quality. The processing quality and the quality grades available ensure a high number of insertion/withdrawal cycles. ‘ept’ PC/104 and PC/104-Plus connectors are supplied with the tried and trusted Tcom press® press-in zone and thus ensure the highest level of reliability in all conceivable applications.