Resources / Glossary
Connector engineering glossary
Short definitions for selection and design review.
- Pitch
- Center-to-center distance between adjacent contacts. Confirm the exact measurement convention on the controlled drawing.
- Mated height
- Distance between reference board planes when a specified plug and socket are fully engaged.
- Stack height
- Overall spacing created by the chosen board-to-board pair in the assembly.
- Pin count
- Number of electrical contact positions on a connector variant.
- Contact position
- A numbered location for one electrical contact in the mating interface.
- Plug
- The connector half designed to mate with a matching socket or receptacle.
- Socket
- The receiving connector half in a specified mating pair.
- Mating part
- The counterpart identified for mechanical and electrical engagement; confirm the exact order code.
- Board-to-board connector
- An interface joining two printed circuit boards without an intermediate cable.
- Floating connector
- A connector design that allows specified relative movement after or during mating.
- Floating travel
- Permitted movement along a defined axis in a specified connector pair.
- Tolerance stack
- Combined dimensional variation of boards, enclosure, fasteners and connector placement.
- SMT
- Surface-mount technology, where contacts attach to PCB surface pads.
- Through-hole
- A mounting arrangement in which connector terminals pass through PCB holes.
- Footprint
- The pattern of pads, holes and clearances assigned to a component on a PCB.
- Recommended PCB layout
- A drawing that specifies suggested board lands and clearances for a connector.
- Pad length
- The length of a PCB land measured along the defined drawing axis.
- Solder tail
- The terminal portion intended to attach to the printed circuit board.
- Hold-down
- A mechanical feature intended to support connector retention on the board.
- Housing
- The insulating body that locates and supports contacts.
- Contact
- The conductive element that forms an electrical path across a mating pair.
- Contact resistance
- Electrical resistance measured across a specified contact path under defined test conditions.
- Insulation resistance
- Resistance between insulated conductive features measured under a defined voltage and environment.
- Withstanding voltage
- A test voltage applied under stated conditions to check insulation integrity.
- Rated current
- Current value specified for a contact or connector under a defined test condition.
- Rated voltage
- Voltage designation for a specified connector design and operating condition.
- Operating temperature
- Temperature range stated for a specified part under its product specification.
- Mating cycle
- One full insertion and withdrawal event under defined test conditions.
- Insertion force
- Force required to mate a specified connector pair under defined conditions.
- Withdrawal force
- Force required to separate a specified mated pair under defined conditions.
- Mating direction
- Direction in which the specified connector halves are brought together.
- Contact plating
- Metal finish applied to a contact surface; confirm the exact material and thickness by variant.
- Gold flash
- A thin gold surface finish whose thickness must be confirmed from the relevant specification.
- Tin finish
- A tin-based surface finish used on specified contact or retention regions.
- Crimp terminal
- A terminal attached to a prepared wire by controlled mechanical forming.
- Wire-to-board connector
- An interface between a wire harness assembly and a printed circuit board.
- LVDS
- Low-voltage differential signaling, a signaling method whose channel performance depends on the whole interconnect.
- Type-C receptacle
- A connector interface with a Type-C form factor; system functions require separate design validation.
- RF connector
- A connector used in a radio-frequency signal path, requiring model-specific electrical evidence.
- Controlled drawing
- A released engineering drawing with an identifiable revision used for design approval.