The RJ45 receptacles are right angle SMD type Jacks, except for one through hole reflow type. The connectors are terminated to a common industrial grade Cat 5e cable, having 26AWG wires. AMPHENOL and FCI are driving this connector also as a standard for the industrial market. As the originator, TE Connectivity obtained IEC standardization of Mini I/O for speeds up to 1 Gbps/100m. Using a hermaphroditic contact layout, both plug and receptacle contacts have spring action and 2 independent contact points, also known as the “fighting snake contacts”. By using additional multiple solder pads and additional hole anchor pegs, it can withstand 98 N of pull force according product specification, while still being true SMD pick & place. The mating interface envelope reduction was realized by choosing fully enclosed metal shells, which take up the forces, provide tight tolerances and mating interface stability. Originally designed for the Japanese industrial market, the Mini I/O was developed to be smaller and more reliable compared to the RJ45. Unfortunately, the wiring scheme of T567B requires a cross-over of the wires of the round cable, making the termination far less straight forward.ĭuring the past decades, the RJ45 has proven its versatility and is nowadays even used in industrial environments by additional shielding and rugged enclosures. For flat cable the termination speed is still unsurpassed, because all conductors are pierced in one step, and a double cable strain relief is also provided. The modular design made it perfectly suitable for termination to flat cable of various widths. The piercing contact used in the RJ45 is the only known principle to reliably connect to tinsel wire, as used in fixed phone coil cords. This was mandated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1976 in which they became known as Registered Jacks.

Modular connectors were described in the Registration Interface system in the USA. The RJ45 is a modular connector that was originally designed for use in telephone wiring. Wired to the T568A and T568B pinouts specified in the TIA/EIA-568 standard, the RJ45 is compatible with both telephone and Ethernet. Example of the different types of tested Ethernet connectors The RJ45 connector systemĬommonly referred to as “RJ45”, the physical connector is standardized as the 8P8C modular connector per IEC60603-7, ANSI/TIA-1096-A and ISO-8877 standards. For this benchmark shorter interruptions are monitored as described in the next sections.įig. At present day communication speeds, within a slot of 10μs many bits are encoded depending on the protocol used. Per IEC 60603-7 the discontinuity requirement is 10μs. Vibration levels can be increased easily, but by introducing a sequence of durability (mating cycles), Mixed Flowing Gas (MFG), Temperature-life and vibration, wear and corrosion will be induced, giving a better indication of contact system performance in harsh environments.ĭuring vibration, connectors are typically qualified per IEC 6 (test 2e) and a threshold of one discontinuity of certain length during a given vibration period and level. The stress level of an individual test can be raised, but also different combinations of tests are needed to induce stresses which correspond to real-life use in industrial applications.

IEC 6 only requires vibration of 50 m/s 2, approx. Instead, systems must be stressed beyond what is typically required in product release or IEC specifications. To compare the performance of connector systems, it is not sufficient to test if certain specification criteria can be met. The Mini I/O connector system is a perfect candidate for Industrial Ethernet, with a mating face envelope of only 25% of the size of an RJ45 Jack.Īs a starting point for this benchmark the requirements per IEC 60306-7-X where used.

The RJ45 connector interface is known to be not the most stable and reliable electrical connection in corrosive environments with vibrations and humidity. In industrial IP20 applications RJ45 connectors are used even though the interface was originally designed for unshielded telephone wiring by using pierce contacts. New developments in industrial IoT / Industrie 4.0 increase the amount of sensor and actuator connections and ask for smaller connector envelopes, while the connection reliability requirements increase, because of lower latency needs.