# US 12,603,707 B2 · Micro-photonics parallel data transmission fabric and interconnect

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- Number: US 12,603,707 B2
- Document ID: US12603707B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/700,043
- Filed: 2022-03-21
- Published: 2023-09-21
- Granted: 2026-04-14
- Earliest claimed: 2022-03-21
- Assignees: Intel Corporation
- Applicants: Intel Corporation
- Inventors: Joshua B. Fryman; Khaled Ahmed; Sergey Shumarayev; Thomas Liljeberg; Divya Pratap; James E. Jaussi
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12603707B2

## CPC

- G02B 6/4249: {comprising arrays of active devices and fibres}
- H04B 10/25891: {Transmission components (H04B10/40 takes precedence)}
- G02B 6/4202: {for coupling an active element with fibres without intermediate optical elements, e.g. fibres with plane ends, fibres with shaped ends, bundles}
- G02B 6/4228: {Passive alignment, i.e. without a detection of the degree of coupling or the position of the elements (G02B6/4234 takes precedence)}
- G02B 6/423: {using guiding surfaces for the alignment}
- G02B 6/4246: {Bidirectionally operating package structures}
- G02B 6/43: Arrangements comprising a plurality of opto-electronic elements and associated optical interconnections
- H04B 10/40: Transceivers
- H04B 10/502: {LED transmitters}
- G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- H04B: TRANSMISSION

## Abstract

A system enables optical communication with direct conversion of the electrical signal into an optical signal with an array of optical sources. The use of the array of optical sources can eliminate the need for a large serializer/deserializer (SERDES). With an array of optical sources, the optical communication can occur at lower power and lower frequency per optical source, with multiple parallel optical sources combining to provide a signal.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An apparatus comprising:
a substrate having an array of light emitting diodes (LEDs) integrated into the substrate, wherein the array of LEDs is organized with multiple LEDs per pixel of a communication channel; and
a controller to drive the array of LEDs with electrical communication signals, including driving the multiple LEDs of each pixel to set a value for each pixel;
wherein the LEDs of the array of LEDs are to convert the electrical communication signals into optical signals to transmit on a plurality of optical waveguides, with the multiple LEDs of each pixel to transmit a combination of at least two different optical wavelengths to transmit the value for each pixel.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the LEDs comprise nanowire LEDs.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The apparatus of claim 2, wherein each LED comprises an array of separately controllable nanowires.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the LEDs comprise optical devices each having a footprint on the substrate of approximately less than 100 square microns (100 μm2).

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the LEDs comprise bidirectional devices having a light emitting operation and a light detection operation.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of optical waveguides comprises an optical fiber bundle.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the optical fiber bundle includes multiple fiber cores to receive optical signals per optical source.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the optical fiber bundle includes fiber cores to receive optical signals from multiple optical sources.

### Claim 9 (depends on 6)

The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the optical fiber bundle includes a fiber core to transmit optical signals of different wavelengths.

### Claim 10 (depends on 6)

The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the LEDs include transmit diodes to convert the electrical communication signals into optical signals and further comprising receive photodetectors to receive input optical signals on the plurality of optical waveguides and convert the input optical signals into input electrical communication signals, and further comprising:
a connector to house the optical fiber bundle to transmit the optical signals between the transmit diodes and corresponding receive photodetectors.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the connector includes an alignment key to align fiber cores of the optical fiber bundle with the transmit diodes and the receive photodetectors.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller is to generate control signals to implement optical signal training to adjust for alignment between fiber cores of the optical fiber bundle and the array of LEDs.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the connector is to connect to an optical signal repeater to amplify and re-time the optical signals.

### Claim 14 (depends on 10)

The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the connector is to connect to an optical signal converter to convert the optical signals into laser-light optical signals.

### Claim 15 (depends on 10)

The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:
electrical signal lines to trigger signal training of the optical signals to an optical signal repeater or an optical signal converter.

### Claim 16 (depends on 10)

The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:
a connector interface to interface to the connector vertically from a surface of the substrate.

### Claim 17 (depends on 10)

The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:
a connector interface to interface to the connector horizontally from a surface of the substrate.

### Claim 18

A system comprising:
a connector to house a plurality of optical waveguides; and
a substrate having an array of at least one hundred (100) optical devices integrated on the substrate, wherein the array of optical devices is organized with multiple optical devices per pixel of a communication channel, the optical devices including transmit optical sources to convert electrical communication signals into optical signals to transmit on the plurality of optical waveguides, with the multiple optical devices of each pixel to transmit a combination of at least two different optical wavelengths to transmit a value of each pixel, and receive optical devices to receive input optical signals on the plurality of optical waveguides and convert the input optical signals into input electrical communication signals.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The system of claim 18, wherein the optical devices comprise micro-LEDs (light emitting diodes).

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The system of claim 19, wherein the optical devices comprise nanowire LEDs.

### Claim 21 (depends on 18)

The system of claim 18, wherein the optical devices comprise vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs).

### Claim 22 (depends on 18)

The system of claim 18, wherein the optical devices comprise bidirectional devices having a light emitting operation and a light detection operation.

### Claim 23 (depends on 18)

The system of claim 18, wherein the optical waveguides comprise an optical fiber bundle having fiber cores to receive optical signals from multiple optical sources.

### Claim 24 (depends on 18)

The system of claim 18, wherein the optical waveguides comprise an optical fiber bundle having a fiber core to transmit optical signals of different wavelengths.

### Claim 25 (depends on 18)

The system of claim 18, wherein the connector is to connect to an optical signal repeater to extend a reach of the optical signals.