Optical engines and optical cable assemblies having electrical signal conditioning

An optical engine comprising:

• a low-speed Tx line;
• a low-speed Rx line, wherein a low-speed Tx signal is transmitted on the low-speed Tx line and a low-speed Rx signal is received on the low-speed Rx line;
• an optical transceiver device comprising a laser control pin operable to control a laser configured to provide light on an optical Tx lane, and an optical detect pin operable to provide an indication as to light detected at an optical Rx lane, wherein:
• the optical transceiver device is configured to convert a high-speed electrical Tx signal into a high-speed Tx optical signal provided on the optical Tx lane, and convert a high-speed Rx optical signal received on the optical Rx lane into a high-speed electrical Rx signal;
• and
• the low-speed Tx signal and the low-speed Rx signal have a data rate that is lower than a data rate of the high-speed electrical Tx signal and a data rate of the high-speed electrical Rx signal;
• and
• a Tx signal conditioning circuit coupled to the laser control pin and/or a Rx signal conditioning circuit coupled to the optical detect pin, wherein:
• the Tx signal conditioning circuit is configured to condition the low-speed Tx signal prior to the optical transceiver device;
• and
• the Rx signal conditioning circuit is configured to condition the low-speed Rx signal received from the optical transceiver device.

An optical cable assembly comprising:

• an optical cable having a first end and a second end, the optical cable comprising a plurality of optical fibers;
• and
• a first electrical connector assembly disposed at the first end of the optical cable and a second electrical connector assembly disposed at the second end of the optical cable, each of the first electrical connector assembly and the second electrical connector assembly comprising a housing and an optical engine disposed within the housing, the optical engine comprising:
• a low-speed Tx line;
• a low-speed Rx line, wherein a low-speed Tx signal is transmitted on the low-speed Tx line and a low-speed Rx signal is received on the low-speed Rx line;
• an optical transceiver device comprising:
• an optical Tx lane and an optical Rx lane, wherein the optical transceiver device is configured to convert a high-speed electrical Tx signal into a high-speed Tx optical signal provided on the optical Tx lane, and convert a high-speed Rx optical signal received on the optical Rx lane into a high-speed electrical Rx signal, wherein the low-speed Tx signal and the low-speed Rx signal have a data rate that is lower than a data rate of the high-speed electrical Tx signal and a data rate of the high-speed electrical Rx signal;
• a laser control pin operable to control a laser configured to provide light on the optical Tx lane;
• and
• an optical detect pin operable to provide an indication as to light detected at the optical Rx lane;
• a control circuit configured to:
• selectively route the low-speed Tx signal at the low-speed Tx line to the optical transceiver device in real time such that the optical transceiver device converts the low-speed Tx signal to a low-speed optical Tx signal at the optical Tx lane;
• and/or
• selectively route the low-speed Rx signal on the optical detect pin to the low-speed Rx line in real time;
• and
• a Tx signal conditioning circuit coupled to the laser control pin and/or a Rx signal conditioning circuit coupled to the optical detect pin, wherein:
• the Tx signal conditioning circuit is configured to condition the low-speed Tx signal prior to the optical transceiver device;
• and
• the Rx signal conditioning circuit is configured to condition the low-speed Rx signal received from the optical transceiver device.