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Miniaturization

In every market, designers are faced with a growing demand for shrinking devices – which means the connectors inside must be made smaller too. Explore the challenges, trends and driving forces of miniaturization across industries.

Overview


From the phone in your pocket to the machinery that assembled it, one trend is clear: packing greater functionality into increasingly smaller spaces through miniaturization is on the rise.

Miniaturization is accelerating in virtually every industry, particularly in advanced applications such as RF/wireless devices, consumer electronics and data center/edge computing. While creating smaller assemblies than ever before, designers must contend with greater feature density, greater I/O density and evolving user expectations. 

Molex is committed to facilitating the path to miniaturization with decades of experience in navigating its challenges and tradeoffs. Our global team of engineering and manufacturing leaders provides cross-disciplinary expertise and unmatched collaboration to support the changing requirements of our customers. We're focused on providing innovative interconnect solutions that tackle evolving and emerging applications head on, allowing our customers to increase functionality while driving down product sizes. 

Read on to learn more about miniaturization trends and problem solvers. 


Mastering Miniaturization Innovation: 7 Expert Perspectives

Design engineers in every sector want to create slimmer, smaller, and lighter components for their electronic applications without sacrificing performance or longevity. To find out how they’re achieving this goal and the impact of miniaturization on different markets, Molex interviewed seven experts representing multiple key industries. The Mastering Miniaturization Innovation: 7 Expert Perspectives report shares their observations, insights and predictions.

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Unleashing the Power of Connected Cars

New technologies in vehicles run the gamut from comfort and convenience to safety to infotainment. Zoom in on the most important of these improvements – those driving transportation safety – and learn how miniaturization innovation is paving the road to fewer accidents and emergencies.

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5G: As Wavelengths Get Smaller, so Must the Devices

5G deployments are steadily increasing in operational frequency, bringing about design challenges that can only be solved with smaller, more specialized components. Delve into some of these challenges and discover how designers are meeting them head-on with inventive miniaturization strategies.

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“One of the biggest trends (in edge devices) is that you need high performance without relying on big field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or single board computers. That means miniaturization and making your Internet of Things (IoT) device smarter without making it bigger.”
Zach Peterson
Owner
Northwest Engineering Solutions

Solving the Challenges of Miniaturized Medical Devices

The popularity of health-and-wellness monitoring devices for step counting, sleep quality, heartrate monitoring and more has ushered in a movement for equally convenient medical-grade wearables. Smaller, less obtrusive medical technology allows patients to better manage their own care, removes patient-clinician barriers and informs superior diagnostic and treatment decisions. Here’s how experts are overcoming complex design challenges, all while patient health is on the line. 

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Data-Driven Factories Need Sensors Everywhere — and Miniaturization

For years, factories meant thinking “big” – large spaces, massive machinery and lots of workers. In many ways, that still holds true. But as modern manufacturing embraces Industry 4.0 technology, the biggest challenges become the opposite: how to miniaturize products and components needed for advanced IIoT connectivity. Learn how facilities are becoming connected, data-driven smart factories. 

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Additional Resources


ON-DEMAND WEBINAR

Rugged and Reliable: Optimizing Vehicle Designs Through Miniaturization

Today’s vehicle electronics need to be smaller, lighter, more connected and faster than ever – all while retaining high levels of ruggedness and reliability. In this webinar, learn about key questions to ask when designing miniaturized electronics and how to choose connectors that best fit the vehicle application’s unique needs.

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Applications Driving Electronics Miniaturization

Miniaturization of electronic devices goes far beyond smart watches and other mobile devices. Discover the driving factors behind miniaturization and the applications demanding innovation. 

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Miniaturization by MIM

Although electronic components may receive all of the attention, mechanical parts need to shrink right alongside them. Enter metal injection molding, otherwise known as MIM. Learn how this single-mold process can deliver superior end products resulting in excellent surface finish, better corrosion resistance and high strength: all while remaining timely and cost-effective.

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