What is on a carrier
A typical carrier has the edge-connector socket, a DC-DC step-down supply, an HDMI connector (input on the transmitter, output on the receiver), antenna connectors, a pairing button and a status LED. Depending on the product it adds magnetics and an RJ45, USB ports for KVM, a headphone jack for analog audio, a second HDMI connector or splitter chip for loop-out, and converter chips for USB-C or DP to HDMI.
Routing HDMI
The TMDS differential pairs are where most carriers go wrong. Route the four pairs at 100 Ω, with intra-pair skew under 5 mil and inter-pair under 20 mil, no layer changes and no crossing of plane splits, and keep at least 3W spacing from button, LED and audio traces. Put no test points in the edge-connector area, leave N / NC pins floating, and tie every ground pin to the ground plane.
Can TX and RX share a carrier
That depends on the pinout, not the package. In a family where TX and RX share one pinout, a single carrier becomes a transmitter with the TX module and a receiver with the RX module, halving prototyping and stock. Where the pinouts differ, TX and RX need separate designs. Different families cannot be mixed even when the outline is identical.
The 4K30 ATE9430T and ATE9430R share one pinout and can use the same carrier. The 4K60 ATE9460 and ATE9461 differ (VBUS on pins 53 / 55 / 57 versus 18 / 20 / 22 / 24) and need separate carriers. Carriers cannot be mixed between 4K30 and 4K60; moving from 4K30 to 4K60 later means redrawing the carrier for the 4K60 pinout. We provide DEMO carrier schematics, PCB reference and pin definitions, and can design the carrier for you.