Patent EP0437161A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0437161A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Optical fiber link card module
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1990-11-27
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-11-27
Abstract
Abstract An optical fiber link card communication module, and process for fabricating the module, where the module provides a parallel electrical interface to the user, facilitates high speed serial transmission of data over an optical data link, and contains a plurality of converters (130,131) for performing conversions between both electrical and optical signals. The module further includes edge mounted optical components having leads mounted on the surface of a card (as opposed to standard pin-in-hole type leads) to minimize lead capacitance and inductance from the optical components to the card electronics, on board card control means for the converters and safety shut down means on the same card as the electrical and optical components. A preferred embodiment of the invention contemplates fabricating the optical communication module on a single multilayer card with all the transmitter electrical components being located on one side of the card, all receiver electrical components being located on the other side of the card, and the transmitter and receiver components being separated by shielding layers in the card. By using two transmitter/receiver pairs (with the transmitters and receivers being located on respective sides of the card) an embodiment of the invention provides for double full duplex communications.
Inventors
- 👤 Timothy Roy Block
- 👤 Marcia Berg Ebler
- 👤 Ladd William Freitag
- 👤 Gerald Michael Heiling
- 👤 Spencer Clinton Holter
- 👤 Dennis Leon Karst
- 👤 David Warren Siljenberg
- 👤 Ronald Lee Soderstrom
- 👤 John Thomas Trnka
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 23:07
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04B; H04B10/00; H04B10/50; G; G02; G02B; G02B6/00; G02B6/24; G02B6/42; G02B6/4201; G02B6/4246
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
137 words
An optical fiber link card, having both electrical and optical components mounted thereon, for converting between parallel electrical signals and serial optical signals, wherein said optical signals are transmitted and received by the card over at least one full duplex optical communication link, characterized in that it comprises : (a) means for inputting parallel electrical signals to said card for conversion to serial optical signals; (b) integrated serializer/optical transmitter driver means, coupled to said means for inputting parallel electrical signals, for converting input parallel electrical signals to serial electrical signals and driving optical transmitter means in response to said serial electrical signals; and (c) optical transmitter means, coupled to said integrated serializer/optical transmitter driver means, for transmitting serial optical signals corresponding to said input parallel electrical signals, over said at least one full duplex optical communication link.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
17 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said optical transmitter means comprises at least one laser.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
47 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 or 2 wherein said optical transmitter means is axial leaded, with the leads being attached to the surface of said card to minimize lead capacitance and inductance from said optical transmitter means to the electronic components mounted on said card.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
131 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein said integrated serializer/optical transmitter driver means further comprises: (a) first phase locked loop means, locked to frequency of the parallel electrical signal input, for generating a serial transmit rate clock signals; (b) first shift register means, coupled to said means for inputting parallel electrical signals and said first phase locked loop means, for converting input paral lel electrical signals to serial electrical signals and outputting said serial electrical signals at said serial transmit rate; (c) AC drive means, coupled to said first shift register means, for modulating said optical transmitter means in response to said serial electrical signals; and (d) DC drive means, coupled to said optical transmitter means, for controlling the power level of said opti cal transmitter means.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
35 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein said DC drive means includes safety circuits which are capable of turning off power to said optical transmitter means in the event of an on card fault.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
99 words
Apparatus according to anyone of the preceding claims wherein said card further comprises: (a) optical receiver means, for detecting serial optical signals input from said at least one full duplex optical communication link and for generating serial electrical signals in response thereto; (b) amplifier means, coupled to said optical receiver means, for amplifying the serial electrical signals generated by said optical receiver means; (c) deserializer means, coupled to said amplifier means, for converting the serial electrical signals ampli fied by said amplifier means to corresponding paral lel electrical signals; and (d) means for outputting said corresponding parallel electrical signals.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
29 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said optical receiver means comprises at least one photodectector diode, and said amplifier means further comprises at least one transimpedence amplifier.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
47 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 or 7 wherein said optical receiver means is axial leaded, with the leads being attached to the surface of said card to minimize lead capacitance and inductance from said optical receiver means to the electronic components mounted on said card.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
108 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 6, 7 or 8 wherein said deserializer means further comprises: (a) means for generating serial transmit rate clock signals; (b) second phase locked loop means, coupled to said amplifier means and said means for generating serial transmit rate clock signals, for lockingsaid clock signals to data carried by said amplified serial electrical signal, and forserially outputting said data and clock signals; and (c) converter means, coupled to said second phase locked loop means, for converting said amplified serial electrical signals to said corresponding parallel electrical signals, in response to the data and clock signals output by said second phase locked loop means.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
78 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 9 wherein said deserializer means further comprises clock generator means for generating and outputting a multiphase parallel rate transmit clock, and said converter means further comprises second shift register means, including TTL driver means, said second shift register means further comprising byte synchronization detector means which enable complete bytes to be unloaded from said second shift register means without fragmentation, and said second shift register means generating and outputs byte synchronization signals.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
95 words
Apparatus as set forth in anyone of claims 6 to 10 wherein said card further comprises safety means operative to ensure safe optical power levels in said at least one full duplex optical communication link in the event a given link is open, and wherein said safety means is further operative, whenever said optical transmitter means comprises at least one laser, to pulse said at least one laser at a low duty cycle when said given link is open and return said at least one laser to continuous power if said given link is reconnected.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
115 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 11 wherein said card further comprises transition detector means and DC detector means, coupled respectively to said amplifier means and said optical receiver means, for respectively detecting minimum AC and DC light levels entering said optical receiver means, wherein said safety means is coupled to said transition detector means and said DC detector means and operates in response to a failure by either of said detector means to detect said minimum AC and DC light levels, and wherein said safety means is also operative in response to off card generated safety means control sig nals, and further operative to output a signal indicative of at least one inactive link.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
41 words
Apparatus as set forth in anyone of claims 9 to 12 wherein said card further comprises multiplexer means coupling the output of said integrated serializer/optical transmitter driver means, to said deserializer means, for operating the card in a diagnostic wrap mode.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
68 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 10, 11, 12 or 13 wherein said card further comprises: (a) a first signal plane, located on a first surface of the card; (b) a second signal plane, located on a second surface of the card; and (c) a plurality of internal power and ground planes, which are connected to and electrically isolate said first signal plane from said second signal plane.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
234 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 14 wherein said means for inputting parallel electrical signals and said integrated serializer/optical transmitter driver means are all surface mounted to said first signal plane, and further wherein said amplifier means, said deserializer means and said means for outputting said corresponding parallel electrical signals are all surface mounted to said second signal plane, whereby the card inherently provides electrical isolation between the components attached to said first and second signal planes, wherein a first one of said plurality of power and ground planes is connected to said first signal plane and a second one of said plurality of power and ground planes is connected to said second signal plane, wherein said second one of said plurality of power and ground planes is partitioned to electrically isolate said TTL driver means from the other components attached to said second signal plane, wherein said first one of said plurality of power and ground planes is fabricated to include an aperture over the portion of said second one of said plurality of power and ground planes which service said TTL driver means, so as to prevent noise from coupling from the second to the first of said plurality of power and ground planes, and wherein said card includes at least two identical, but electrically isolated, optical transmitter means/optical receiver means pairs, to provide at least a double full duplex communication capability.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
308 words
An optical fiber link card, having both electrical and optical components mounted thereon, for converting between parallel electrical signals and serial optical signals, wherein said optical signals are transmitted and received by the card over at least one full duplex optical communication link, comprising: (a) means for inputting parallel electrical signals to said card for conversion to serial optical signals; (b) at least one converter means, coupled to said means for inputting parallel electrical signals, for con verting input parallel electrical signals to serial electrical signals; (c) transmitter driver means, couples to said first converter means, for driving optical transmitter means in response to said serial electrical signals; and (d) optical transmitter means coupled, to said transmit ter driver means, for transmitting serial optical signals corresponding to said input parallel electri cal signals, over said at least one full duplex optical communication link, wherein said optical transmitter means is axial leaded, with the leads being attached to the surface of said card to mini mize lead capacitance and inductance from said opti cal transmitter means to the electronic components mounted on said card; (e) optical receiver means, for detecting serial optical signals input from said at least one full duplex optical communication link and for generating serial electrical signals in response thereto, wherein said opticalreceiver means is axial leaded, with the leads being attached to the surface of said card to mini mize lead capacitance and inductance from said opti cal receiver means to the electronic components mounted on said card; (f) amplifier means, coupled to said optical receiver means, for amplifying the serial electrical signals generated by said optical receiver means; (g) deserializer means, coupled to said amplifier means, for converting the serial electrical signals ampli fied by said amplifier means to corresponding paral lel electrical signals; and (h) means for outputting said corresponding parallel electrical signals.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
213 words
A single multilayer double sided surface mount optical fiber link card, having a plurality of converter means and a plurality of optical components mounted thereon, for converting between parallel electrical signals and serial optical signals, wherein said serial optical signals are transmitted and received by optical transmitter means and optical receiver means respectively over at least one full duplex optical communication link, comprising: (a) means for inputting parallel electrical signals to at least first converter means of said plurality of converter means; (b) at least first converter means of said plurality of converter means, including serializer means integrat ed with optical transmitter driver means, coupled to said means for inputting parallel electrical signals, for converting input parallel electrical signals to serial electrical signals and driving said optical transmitter means in response to said serial electri cal signals; (c) amplifier means, coupled to said optical receiver means, for amplifying serial electrical signals generated by said optical receiver means in response to serial optical signals on said link; (d) at least second converter means of said plurality of said converter means, including deserializer means, coupled to said amplifier means, for converting the serial electrical signals amplified by said amplifier means to corresponding parallel electrical signals; and (e) means for outputting said corresponding parallel electrical signals.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
172 words
Apparatus as set forth in claim 17 wherein said means for inputting and said at least first converter means are mounted, via connection to a first signal plane, on a first side of said double sided card; wherein said amplifier means, said means for outputting and said at least second converter means are mounted, via connection to a second signal plane, on a second side of said double sided card; and further wherein the card inherently provides electrical signal isolation between said first and second signal planes, and wherein said card further comprises, a plurality of internal power and ground planes which are connected to and electrically isolate said first signal plane from said second plane, wherein at least one of said plurality of power and ground planes is partitioned to electrically isolate selected components attached thereto, and further wherein at least one other of said plurality of power and ground planes is fabricated to include an aperture over the partitioned portion of the power and ground planes servicing said selected components.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
144 words
A process for manufacturing an optical communication module, including a single multilayer double surface mount optical fiber link card having a plurality of converters mounted thereon, for converting between parallel electrical signals and serial optical signals, wherein said optical signals are transmitted and received by the module over at least one full duplex optical communication link, comprising the steps of: (a) fabricating first optical assembly means, electrical ly coupled to at least one of said plurality of converters, including at least one axial leaded optical transmitter that is optically coupled to said communication link; and (b) fabricating retainer means, for holding said first optical assembly in proximity to an edge of said card so as to align said at least one optical transmitter to said edge and facilitate attaching the leads of said at least one optical transmitter to the surface of said card.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
191 words
A process as set forth in claim 19 further comprising the step of fabricating second optical assembly means, including at least one axial leaded optical receiver for detecting serial optical signals input from said at least one full duplex optical communication link and for generating serial electrical signals in response thereto, wherein said retainer means fabricated in step (b) is also operative to hold said second assembly in proximity to an edge of said card so as to align said at least one optical receiver to said edge and facilitate attaching the leads of said at least one optical receiver to the surface of said card, the step of attaching the leads of said at least one optical transmitter and the leads of said at least one optical receiver, to the surface of said card, and wherein said step of fabricating retainer means further comprises the step of snapping together a two piece retainer/holder assembly that, when snapped together, provides a slotted cradle for holding said first and second optical assembly means, and wherein said step of fabricating retainer means further comprises the step of molding said retainer/holder assembly from plastic.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
61 words
A process as set forth in claim 20 wherein said step of molding said retainer/holder assembly yields insert pins and rails to mechanically hold said first and second optical assemblies to said card, flexible "J" clip and stand off means which facilitate creating multicard assemblies, and means for thermally isolating said plurality of converters from said at least one optical transmitter.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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