Eric Zbinden

Automated opto-electronic packaging for 10 Gb/s transponders

Integrated transponders are quickly displacing discrete module implementation in many 10 Gb/s line card designs. The emergence of the 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE) standard had placed higher demands on manufacturing scalability to meet the volume requirements of this application. To meet these challenges, we have developed a novel automated manufacturing implementation of small form factor, high performance, and highly integrated uncooled optics. We describe the design and automated manufacturing of such modules, present their performance, and show how they enable the implementation of new miniature, low cost 10 Gb/s transponders.

PCIe optical interconnects

We have demonstrated PCIe optical connections over fiber up to 300m distances. Due to their high bandwidth, low weight, immunity to EMI interference, and ruggedness of the electrical connector interface, PCIe Active Optical Cables present many advantages over copper cables in avionics applications.

Extended temperature performance of 120 Gbps midboard optical engine

Industrial and military requirements for optics dictate the ability to operate reliably over a myriad of extreme environmental conditions such as extended temperature, increased shock and vibration, high particulate environments, etc. While it is paramount that the transceiver be able to maintain performance over these extreme conditions, considerations for the optical interconnects in the signal path are often overlooked. In general, optical performance tends to degrade as the operating temperature drifts from nominal conditions. Likewise, optical connector performance degrades at higher shock and vibration levels. As a result, optical products are generally limited to operating at case temperatures between 0 °C – 70 °C and struggle at high shock and vibration levels. In this paper we demonstrate the performance of the Samtec 12 channel FireFlyTM at 10 Gbps, -40 °C and 85 °C case temperature coupled with the expanded beam MXCTM connector from US Conec. Optical eye diagrams and receiver sensitivity for a link that includes 100 m of OM3 fiber, reliability results for transmitters operating at extended temperature, and shock and vibration data are presented.

Extended temperature performance of VCSEL based optical transmitter

In this paper we demonstrate the extended temperature performance of Samtecs 12 channel FireFly optical transmitter at 10.3125 Gbps. The results indicate that the transmitter has more than 25% mask margin when operating between -40 °C and 90 °C. Reliability results for 11 different transmitters operating at 85 °C indicate that the output power of the laser changes by less than 0.5 dB after 2000 hours of continuous operation.