Modular optical transceiver

• US 7,583,900 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2008
• Issued: 09/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations, U.S.A., Inc. (Sumitomo Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Emcore Corporation
• Inventors: Moretti, Anthony, Wachtel, Paul, Lane, Brett, Dallesasse, John, Scheibenreif, Joseph, Richardson, Dean, McCallum, David, Andrei, Bogdan, Noble, Bryan, Whitehead, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): PASCAL, LESLIE C
• Application Number:
  US12/049,033
• Publication Number:
  US 20080187316A1
• Time in Patent Office: 536 Days
• Field of Search: 398/135, 398/139
• US Class Current: 398/135
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4201 Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4204 the coupling comprising intermediate optical elements, e.g. lenses, holograms encapsulated active devices H01S5/02208, H01L33/52
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4268 Cooling of semiconductor devices H01L23/24; of electric apparatus H05K7/20; of instruments G12B15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4277 Protection against electromagnetic interference [EMI], e.g. shielding means shielding of electric apparatus H05K9/00, of instruments G12B17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/428 containing printed circuit boards [PCB]
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4285 Optical modules characterised by a connectorised pigtail
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4292 the light guide being disconnectable from the opto-electronic element, e.g. mutually self aligning arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/40 Transceivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/02 Wavelength-division multiplex systems

Abstract

An optical transceiver converting and coupling an information-containing electrical signal with an optical fiber including a housing conforming to the industry standard XENPAK™ form factor including an electrical connector for coupling with an external electrical cable or information system device and for transmitting and/or receiving an information-containing electrical communications signal, and a fiber optic connector adapted for coupling with an external optical fiber for transmitting and/or receiving an optical communications signal. At least one electro-optical subassembly is provided in the housing for converting between an information-containing electrical signal and a modulated optical signal corresponding to the electrical signal, along with a modular, interchangeable communications protocol processing printed circuit board in the housing for processing the communications signal into a predetermined electrical or optical communications protocol, such as the IEEE 802.3ae 10 Gigabit BASE LX4 physical layer.

Claims

1. An optical transceiver for converting and coupling an information-containing electrical signal with an optical fiber comprising:

a housing including an electrical connector for coupling with an external electrical cable or information system device and for transmitting and/or receiving an information-containing electrical communications signal, a fiber optic connector adapted for coupling with an external optical fiber for transmitting and/or receiving an optical communications signal, and a base member and a cover member forming a pluggable module;

a transmitter subassembly disposed in the housing including (i) first and second lasers operating at different wavelengths and modulated with respective first and second electrical signals for emitting first and second laser light beams;

(ii) a multiplexer for receiving said first and second beams and multiplexing the respective optical signals into a single multi-wavelength beam that is coupled to said fiber optic connector for transmitting the optical signal to an external optical fiber; and

(iii) a first electrical interconnect;

a receiver subassembly disposed in the housing including an optical demultiplexer coupled to said fiber optic connector for receiving a multi-wavelength optical signal having a plurality of information-containing signals each with a different predetermined wavelength and demultiplexing the optical signal into distinct optical beams corresponding to said predetermined wavelengths;

a plurality of photodiodes each of which is disposed on a support in the path of a distinct optical beam, the photodiodes functioning to convert the respective optical signals into an electrical signal; and

a second electrical interconnect for transmitting the electrical signal; and

a communications protocol processing subassembly disposed in the housing for processing the communications signal into a predetermined electrical or optical communications protocol supporting at least a 10 Gigabit data rate, including a third interconnect connected to the first interconnect of the transmitter subassembly and a fourth interconnect connected to the second interconnect of the receiver subassembly.

2. The optical transceiver of claim 1 comprising a rigid electrical interconnect mounted on said communications protocol processing subassembly.

3. The optical transceiver of claim 1 wherein the first and third electrical interconnects comprise flexible electrical interconnects.

4. The optical transceiver of claim 1 wherein the first and third electrical interconnects comprise rigid electrical interconnects.

5. The optical transceiver of claim 1 wherein the second and fourth electrical interconnects comprise flexible electrical interconnects.

6. The optical transceiver of claim 1 wherein the second and fourth electrical interconnects comprise rigid electrical interconnects.

7. The optical transceiver of claim 1 comprising one or more thermally conductive gap pads in contact with at least one of the lasers and at least one of the base member and cover member.

8. The optical transceiver of claim 1 comprising one or more thermally conductive gap pads in contact with at least one heat generating component of the communications protocol processing subassembly and at least one of the base member and cover member.

9. The optical transceiver of claim 1 wherein the receiver subassembly is directly mounted on the base member with a thermally conductive adhesive, the optical transceiver comprising at least one of:

(i) one or more thermally conductive gap pads in contact with at least one of the lasers and the cover member;

or

(ii) one or more thermally conductive gap pads in contact with at least one heat generating component of the communications protocol processing subassembly and the cover member.

10. The optical transceiver of claim 1 wherein the multiplexer is mounted to a substrate disposed between the cover member and the protocol processing subassembly, the substrate comprising an opening that substantially aligns with at least one heat generating component of the communications protocol processing subassembly and a heat sink disposed on the cover member, thereby allowing the heat sink to thermally couple the cover member to the at least one heat generating component.

11. The optical transceiver of claim 1 comprising a thermally conductive gap pad disposed between at least one of the subassemblies and the housing for dissipating heat from the at least one subassembly.

12. The optical transceiver of claim 1 wherein the multiplexer is mounted to a flexible substrate.

13. The optical transceiver of claim 12 comprising a plurality of optical fibers disposed within the housing extending between the first and second lasers and the multiplexer, wherein the plurality of optical fibers are mounted to the flexible substrate.

14. The optical transceiver of claim 1, wherein at least one of the subassemblies is directly mounted on said housing using a thermally conductive material.

15. An optical transceiver for converting and coupling an information-containing electrical signal with an optical fiber comprising:

a housing comprising a base member and a cover member forming a pluggable module, the housing including an electrical connector for coupling with an external electrical cable or information system device and for transmitting and/or receiving an information-containing electrical communications signal, and a fiber optic connector adapted for coupling with an external optical fiber for transmitting and/or receiving an optical communications signal;

a transmitter subassembly disposed in the housing including (i) first and second lasers operating at different wavelengths and modulated with respective first and second electrical signals for emitting first and second laser light beams and (ii) a multiplexer for receiving the first and second beams and multiplexing the respective optical signals into a single multi-wavelength beam that is coupled to the fiber optic connector;

a receiver subassembly disposed in the housing including (i) an optical demultiplexer coupled to said fiber optic connector for receiving a multi-wavelength optical signal having a plurality of information-containing signals each with a different predetermined wavelength and demultiplexing the optical signal into distinct optical beams corresponding to the predetermined wavelengths and (ii) a plurality of photodiodes functioning to convert a respective optical beam into an electrical signal; and

a communications protocol processing subassembly coupled to the transmitter subassembly and receiver subassembly, the communications protocol processing subassembly disposed in the housing for processing the communications signal into a predetermined electrical or optical communications protocol supporting at least a 10 Gigabit data rate; and

wherein at least a portion of one of the subassemblies is directly coupled to a surface of the housing using a thermally conductive material so that the heat from the portion of the subassembly is dissipated to the housing.

16. The optical transceiver of claim 15 comprising a thermally conductive gap pad disposed between the portion of at least one of the subassemblies and the housing for dissipating heat from the portion of the at least one subassembly.

17. The optical transceiver of claim 15 comprising a rigid electrical interconnect mounted on said communications protocol processing subassembly.

18. The optical transceiver of claim 15 comprising one or more thermally conductive gap pads in contact with at least one of the lasers and at least one of the base member and cover member.

19. The optical transceiver of claim 15 wherein the multiplexer is mounted to a flexible substrate.

20. The optical transceiver of claim 19 comprising a plurality of optical fibers disposed within the housing extending between the first and second lasers and the multiplexer, wherein the plurality of optical fibers are mounted to the flexible substrate.

21. The optical transceiver of claim 15 wherein the multiplexer is mounted to a substrate disposed between the cover member and the protocol processing subassembly, the substrate comprising an opening that substantially aligns with at least one heat generating component of the communications protocol processing subassembly and a heat sink disposed on the cover member, thereby allowing the heat sink to thermally couple the cover member to the at least one heat generating component.

22. The optical transceiver of claim 15 wherein the base member and cover member forms a substantially XENPAK compliant pluggable module.

23. The optical transceiver of claim 15 wherein the communications protocol processing subassembly is substantially compliant with IEEE 802.3ae 10 GBASE-LX4.

24. An optical transceiver for converting and coupling an information-containing electrical signal with an optical fiber comprising:

a housing including an electrical connector for coupling with an external electrical cable or information system device and for transmitting and/or receiving an information-containing electrical communications signal, and a fiber optic connector adapted for coupling with an external optical fiber for transmitting and/or receiving an optical communications signal;

a modular, interchangeable communications protocol processing subassembly detachably disposed in the housing for processing the communications signal into a predetermined electrical or optical communications protocol supporting at least a 10 Gigabit data rate,

a modular transmitter subassembly detachably disposed in the housing and coupled to the communications protocol processing subassembly, the transmitter subassembly comprising (i) first and second lasers operating at different wavelengths to emit first and second laser light beams corresponding to first and second electrical signals, (ii) a multiplexer for multiplexing the first and second laser light beams into a single multi-wavelength beam that is coupled to the fiber optic connector and (iii) a first electrical interconnect; and

a modular receiver subassembly detachably disposed in the housing and coupled to the communications protocol processing subassembly, the receiver subassembly comprising (i) an optical demultiplexer arranged to demultiplex a multiplexed optical signal from the fiber optic connector into constituent optical beams, (ii) a plurality of photodiodes arranged to convert a respective constituent optical beam into a corresponding electrical signal and (iii) a second electrical interconnect;

wherein the transmitter subassembly, receiver subassembly and the protocol processing subassembly allow the transceiver to be reconfigured.

25. The optical transceiver of claim 24 wherein the first electrical interconnect comprises a flexible electrical interconnect.

26. The optical transceiver of claim 24 wherein the first electrical interconnect comprises a rigid electrical interconnect.

27. The optical transceiver of claim 24 wherein the second electrical interconnect comprises a flexible electrical interconnect.

28. The optical transceiver of claim 24 wherein the second electrical interconnect comprises a rigid electrical interconnect.

29. The optical transceiver of claim 24 comprising a rigid electrical interconnect mounted on said communications protocol processing subassembly.

30. The optical transceiver of claim 24 wherein at least one of the subassemblies is directly mounted on the housing using a thermally conductive material.

31. The optical transceiver of claim 24 comprising one or more thermally conductive gap pads in contact with the housing and at least one of the lasers.

32. The optical transceiver of claim 24 comprising one or more thermally conductive gap pads in contact with the housing and at least one heat generating component of the communications protocol processing subassembly.

33. The optical transceiver of claim 24 wherein the multiplexer is mounted to a flexible substrate.

34. The optical transceiver of claim 33 comprising a plurality of optical fibers disposed within the housing extending between the first and second lasers and the multiplexer, wherein the plurality of optical fibers are mounted to the flexible substrate.

35. The optical transceiver of claim 24 wherein the base member and cover member forms a substantially XENPAK compliant pluggable module.

36. The optical transceiver of claim 24 wherein the communications protocol processing subassembly is substantially compliant with IEEE 802.3ae 10 GBASE-LX4.

37. An optical transceiver for converting and coupling an information-containing electrical signal with an optical fiber comprising:

a housing including an electrical connector for coupling with an external electrical cable or information system device and for transmitting and/or receiving an information-containing electrical communications signal, and a fiber optic connector adapted for coupling with an external optical fiber for transmitting and/or receiving an optical communications signal;

at least one electro-optical subassembly in the housing for converting between an information-containing electrical signal and a modulated optical signal corresponding to the electrical signal;

a communications protocol processing subassembly in the housing for processing the communications signal into a predetermined electrical or optical communications protocol; and

a thermally conductive gap pad disposed between at least one of the electro-optical subassemblies and the housing for dissipating heat from the at least one subassembly.

38. The optical transceiver of claim 37 comprising a rigid electrical interconnect mounted on the communications protocol processing subassembly.

39. The optical transceiver of claim 37 wherein an electro-optical subassembly comprises a multiplexer mounted to a flexible substrate.

40. The optical transceiver of claim 39 comprising a plurality of optical fibers disposed within the housing extending between a first and second laser and the multiplexer, wherein the plurality of optical fibers are mounted to the flexible substrate.