Lightning interface high-speed interconnection scheme: application analysis of extremely thin coaxial cable束

With the continuous upgrade of the Thunderbolt interface standard, from the 10Gbps of Thunderbolt 1 to the 80Gbps of Thunderbolt 5, the requirements for signal transmission speed and stability are constantly increasing. In applications such as notebooks, docking stations, AI edge devices, and high-performance workstations, how to achieve multi-channel high-speed transmission within a limited space has become a key challenge. The ultra-thin coaxial cable束 (Micro Coaxial Cable) with its small outer diameter, high flexibility, and excellent shielding performance is gradually becoming the core solution for high-speed interconnection.

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The high-speed transmission advantages of extremely fine coaxial cable bundles

The thunderbolt interface is based on PCIe and DisplayPort protocols, and it has extremely high requirements for impedance consistency, signal integrity, and shielding performance. The extremely fine coaxial cable bundle, through independent shielding and precise impedance control, effectively reduces crosstalk and reflections, ensuring stable eye diagrams and low error rates under high-speed transmission. At the same time, with its ultra-small outer diameter of 0.3-0.5mm and high flexibility, it is compatible with notebooks, docks, and mobile devices with limited space, balancing lightweighting and high reliability to meet the high-speed transmission requirements of internal interconnects and external interface extensions.

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Part 2: Evolution and Design Challenges of Thunder 1 to Thunder 5

The thunderbolt interface has been upgraded from 10Gbps (Thunderbolt 1/2) to 40Gbps (Thunderbolt 3/4), and further to 80Gbps (Thunderbolt 5), which puts forward different design requirements for cables:
• Lightning 1/2: Low speed, ordinary differential shielding structure is sufficient.
• Lightning 3/4: Medium to high speed, ensure low insertion loss, low crosstalk, and phase consistency of differential pairs.
• LeiDian 5: Extremely high speed requires very high standards for conductor electroplating quality, dielectric loss, and shielding integrity.
  Optimized high-performance micro coax (silver-plated copper conductor, low dielectric FEP insulation, double shielding) meets lightning standards 4/5, ensuring stable and reliable high-speed signals.

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Typical Application Scenarios and Future Trends

Extremely fine coaxial cable bundles are widely used in connections between laptops and docking stations, AI workstations and external GPUs, 8K/VR/AR display devices, industrial imaging and medical equipment, as well as embedded systems and high-speed interconnections within servers. As interface standards evolve towards higher bandwidth (such as USB5, DisplayPort 3.1), micro coax will continue to serve as the core medium for high-speed interconnection, balancing lightweight design with higher frequency transmission, providing a stable and reliable data channel for future high-performance devices.

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Extremely thin coaxial cable束s, with their high-frequency low-loss, precise impedance control, excellent shielding performance, and high flexibility, have become the core solution for lightning interfaces and various high-speed interconnections. They provide stable and reliable signal transmission for laptops, docking stations, AI equipment, and industrial systems.

I amSuzhou Huichengyuan Electronic TechnologyLong-term focus on the design and customization of high-speed cable harnesses and ultra-thin coaxial cables, committed to providing stable and reliable high-speed interconnection solutions. If you have related needs or want to learn more, welcome to contactManager Zhang: 18913228573 (same number for WeChat)。