OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS MODULE HAVING A CROSSED-BEAM OPTICS SYSTEM

摘要

A bidirectional (BiDi) optical communications module is provided that utilizes a crossed-beam optics system configuration that improves space utilization in the module while also reducing the occurrence of electrical and optical crosstalk in the module. The crossed-beam optics system configuration causes the optical pathways associated with each port to cross in an area that is typically an unused, or wasted, area in existing BiDi optical communications modules. By utilizing this typically unused area, spatial constraints on the placement of module components are relaxed. Relaxing these spatial constraints allows the optical source die and the optical detector die to be positioned far enough apart from one another that electrical and optical crosstalk do not occur, or at least are greatly reduced. In addition, relaxing the spatial constraints allows electrical trace lengths to be reduced, which leads to improvements in signal integrity and overall performance.

主权项

1. A bidirectional (BiDi) optical communications module comprising:
a circuit board having at least first and second optical sources and first and second optical detectors mounted directly or indirectly thereon, the first optical source generating a first light beam to be transmitted over a first optical fiber, the first optical detector detecting a second light beam passing out of the first end of the first optical fiber, the second optical source generating a third light beam to be transmitted over a second optical fiber, the second optical detector detecting a fourth light beam passing out of the first end of the second optical fiber; and a crossed-beam optics system comprising:
a first optical port configured to be mechanically coupled with the first end of the first optical fiber; anda second optical port configured to be mechanically coupled with the first end of the second optical fiber, the first optical source being positioned nearer to the second optical port than to the first optical port and the second optical source being positioned nearer to the first optical port than to the second optical port, and wherein the first and third light beams travel along optical pathways that include first and second optical pathways, respectively, and wherein the first and second optical pathways cross one another.