Quad-Row, Board-to-Board Connector Integrates EMI Shielding

The Overview: A Small Board-to-Board Connector that Wards Off EMI

Maximizing functionality while helping to preserve signal integrity, Molex’s new Quad-Row Shield board-to-board connector packs up to 80 pins for a 4X boost in power delivery, saves space compared with dual-row designs, and offers built-in shielding that eliminates complex external grounding.

Who Needs It & Why: Enhancing Signal Integrity in Tight Spaces

The perennial struggle against electromagnetic and RF interference is magnified in tight spaces, where there isn’t necessarily room for conventional and bulky external grounding components.

End products like smart watches, augmented-reality (AR) glasses, and handheld gaming systems are upping the ante in terms of power requirements and data throughput. However, RF and EM interference in the 2.4- to 6-GHz band make effective grounding solutions a critical design element to preserve signal integrity.

That’s why designers of wearables and other mobile devices will find the Quad-Row Shield a useful ally in the effort to combat interference while simultaneously preserving space and offering interconnect density.

Under the Hood: EMI and Size Reduction Meets Greater Power Delivery

Molex’s Quad-Row board-to-board connectors, launched in July of 2020, brought a 30% size reduction compared to dual-row connectors. The addition of an EMI shield mitigates both EMI and RF interference, as well as signal-integrity issues that create undue noise. It's claimed to achieve up to 25-dB reduction in EMI over the non-shielded Quad-Row connectors.

To address the growing power requirements of wearables like AR glasses and other mobile devices, Molex’s engineers endowed the Quad-Row Shield connectors with up to 80 signal pins. And thanks to a pair of power-pin sets, they're able to deliver 4X the power of a single-pin connector. 

Molex’s long-standing collaboration with product developers from major device and gaming manufacturers supports continued enhancements, including the development of the new EMI shielding.

Together, Molex and its customer engineering teams addressed the most significant requirements related to signal interference and incremental power requirements. Specifically, this involved how best to achieve 80X the signal connections and 4X the power delivery compared to a single-pin connector.

The new Quad-Row Shield provides power input and output aligned to a delivery model featuring up to 80 pins within a single board-to-board connector. In addition, S-parameter input specifications may be assigned to a preferred pin layout in an 80-pin signal design.

Because of its effective reduction of EMI and RF interference, the Quad-Row Shield connectors can help designs meet stringent EMI/EMC standards, lowering regulatory testing burdens and hastening product approvals. The shielding feature also enables error-free communication while seamlessly supporting operations and maintenance requirements to boost overall system uptime.

Molex Quad-Row Shield samples are available now to support custom inquiries, and commercial availability will follow in Q2 2026.