An optical active connector: an optical interconnect module with an electrical connector interface

This paper describes a prototype optical active connector that has both optical and electrical interfaces for an ATM switching system and high-speed computer network systems. This connector with an O/E or E/O conversion module can replace conventional electrical-cable 18-pin connectors for a normal printed circuit board that has only an electrical interface. The connector consists of specially developed MU-type sub-modules each with a photonic device, 9-pin electrical connectors, and ICs. It can be used for 200-Mbps data transmission and has lower electromagnetic emission noise than conventional connectors. Using optical active connectors to replace electrical-cable connectors will facilitate the introduction of high-throughput, large-capacity ATM switching systems and next-generation local area network systems.