Timothy Roy Block

CD laser optical data links for workstations and midrange computers

The Optical Link Card (OLC) is a high speed fiber optic data link developed for low cost computer interconnect applications. Several versions of this OLC family are now in volume production. They incorporate a short-wavelength, CD-type laser source, high-density surface mount (SMT) packaging, and a novel technique to comply with worldwide laser safety regulations. The current cards, operating at 220 Mb/s and 266 Mb/s over 2 km of multimode optical fiber, provide compatibility with the emerging ANSI standard called Fiber Channel. Future extensions, especially to higher data rates, are being developed to meet the computer users growing demand for higher bandwidth networking solutions.<<ETX>>

Optical data link using a CD laser

A 266 Mb/s optical link card based on a 780 nm compact disc (CD) laser has been designed by IBM Rochester to provide a fast data link for interconnecting computer systems. This design not only met the performance and cost objectives of the data communications environment, it also overcame key challenges in the areas of laser safety, laser reliability, and modal noise. The 266 Mb/s data rate was selected to conform to the new American National Standard Institute (ANSI) Fiber Channel Standard (FCS).

CD Laser As A Fiber Optic Source For Computer Data Links

Computer data links are evolving from copper cable systems to fiber optics simply because the optical fiber itself offers the advantages of higher data rates and longer distances. The Compact Disc (CD) laser is suitable as the light source because it satisfies the computer system requirements for low cost, high data rate, miniaturized package, and high reliability.