New VITA 67 RF modules from TE Connectivity enhance the ability to add RF capabilities in VITA 46 VPX board-to-board connections. The modules, available with four or eight positions, accept SMPM coaxial contacts available for a wide range of flexible and semi-rigid cable on the daughtercard and preloaded board-mount SMPM contacts on the backplane. The modular design allows application-specific configurations with high contact counts in VPX systems. The RF modules are compatible with VITA 65 OpenVPX specification, which defines standard profiles for various configurations at the chassis, backplane, slot, and module levels. TE will be featuring this technology at AUSA 2011 on October 10-12, at Booth 7153 (Hall D) in Washington, D.C.

Designed for high-reliability, high-density aerospace and defense applications, VITA 67 modules meet the vibration, environmental, and corrosion resistance requirements of VITA 47. The modules provide a convenient and standardized microwave interface to meet the needs of C4ISR applications such as ground base stations and communication systems, land and sea anti-ballistic signal processing, avionics and ground-based radar systems, and electronic countermeasures.

Contacts are on a 0.240-inch centerline to maintain high channel-to-channel isolation, while jacks are float-mounted to maintain a positive RF ground. The modules offer a contact float of 0.079 inch, radial misalignment of ±0.010 inch, and a contact antistubbing feature to allow reliable blindmating.

VITA 67 modules are part of the growing family of VPX modules from TE, including VITA 46 MULTIGIG RT2 connectors, VITA 62 power modules, and VITA 66 optical modules. The RF modules can also be used with other emerging high-speed connector systems such as the Fortis Zd system for next-generation VITA 72 applications.