Difference between I-PEX 20455, 20454 and 20453 Series

What is the difference between I-PEX 20455, 20454 and 20453 series? If you ever read our compiled reference manual for CABLINE®-VS, you may already have the answer. However, since we have been seeing a lot of traffic coming from such searches, we think it makes sense to make a dedicated post to give a clearer answer for it.

Before talking about the difference, let's note down the common point. 20455, 20454 and 20453 are identifiers for the parts of the I-PEX CABLINE®-VS connector, which is widely used as a standard connector for eDP (embedded DisplayPort) in modern notebook PCs.

Then, here is the difference.

20455 is the Identifier for Receptacle.

Coaxial cable falls into the category of board-to-wire connection. A coaxial cable receptacle is the connector that sits on the board side. In most cases, 20455 is the first part number that comes to schematic & layout designers' field of vision.

20454 is the Identifier for Plug Housing.

The plug housing itself is not a completed plug. It has to be paired with shell (Shell-A in I-PEX's terminology) to make a functional plug, whose identifier will be 20453. Usually a cable user does not directly deal with plug housing. It only shows up in the cable maker's BOM list.

20453 is the Identifier for Plug Set.

As mentioned above, 20453 is the assembled set of plug and shell-A. It is the part number that shows up on cable drawing. Mechanical engineers are the folks who have the most interest in it.

One More Thing

To make things simple. Remember the following.

• Electronic engineers put 20455 on board.
• Mechanical engineers put 20453 on drawing.
• Cable makers buy 20454 to make 20453.

Similar stories exist in other series of I-PEX products. As a quick index, here we list identifiers of each part for popular connectors from I-PEX. For detailed information, please click the link to the compiled reference manual of each series.