ELECTRONIC INTERCONNECTION METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MINIMIZING PROPAGATION DELAYS

摘要

A module interconnection system which minimizes electronic signal propagation delays is disclosed. The module interconnection system includes a backplane (20), a first plurality of connectors (30) arranged in a side by side generally parallel arrangement (32, 34, 36, 38), and a second plurality of connectors (40) arranged in a side by side generally parallel arrangement (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50). In a preferred embodiment, the second plurality of connectors (40) are mounted on the backplane (20) at right angles to the first plurality of connectors (30) so as to provide short routing paths between each of the second plurality of connectors (40) and at least one of the first plurality of connectors. Point-to-point signal interconnections are selectively utilized to provide data paths between selected contacts of at least one of the first plurality of connectors (30) and selected contacts of the second plurality of connectors (40). The above described interconnection apparatus permits high speed data communication between modules disposed in at least one of said first plurality of connectors and at least one module disposed in said second plurality of connectors.