Method and apparatus for aligning optical interconnections between printed circuit boards

A method for the alignment of optical interconnections between at least one optical data transmission point and at least one corresponding optical data receiving point, comprising polarizing a collimated beam of data carrying light through an electrically-controlled light polarizer comprising an array of pixels, obtaining a focused beam of data-carrying light by controlling the polarization of each pixel, and continuously and/or adaptively aligning the collimated beam by the steps of:

• a) determining a desired bit error rate and a threshold current and/or voltage produced by an optical sensor at the optical data receiving point, which corresponds to said rate;
• b) providing a comparator circuitry for comparing the actual current and/or voltage produced by said optical sensor, to said threshold current and/or voltage;
• c) providing a feedback loop for controlling each individual pixel according to the comparison result;
• d) generating an error signal by said comparator, whenever said actual current and/or voltage produced by said optical sensor is different from said threshold current and/or voltage;
• e) feeding said error signal into said feedback loop;
• and
• f) adjusting the control signal to one or more pixels until said error signal is reduced essentially to zero.

A data communication system for the alignment of optical interconnections between at least one optical data transmission point and at least one corresponding optical data receiving point comprising:

• light emitting means;
• light collimating means;
• an electrically-controlled light polarizer comprising an array of pixels, for focusing a collimated beam of data-carrying light, coupled to at least one optical data receiving point;
• light receiving means including an optical sensor at the optical data receiving point for producing a current and/or voltage in response to light arriving at the optical data receiving point from the polarizer;
• at least one comparator circuitry for comparing the actual current and/or voltage produced by the optical sensor, to a threshold current and/or voltage;
• at least one feedback loop for controlling each individual pixel according to the comparison result;
• circuitry for generating an error signal by said comparator, whenever said actual current and/or voltage produced by said optical sensor is different from said threshold current and/or voltage;
• electrical connection for feeding said error signal into said feedback loop;
• and
• circuitry for adjusting a control signal supplied by the feedback loop to one or more pixels until said error signal is reduced essentially to zero.

Apparatus for the alignment of optical interconnections between at least one optical data transmission point and at least one corresponding optical data receiving point, comprising:

• a) a data-carrying light source for transmission of data carrying light from said transmission point;
• b) an optical sensor for receiving said data carrying light at said receiving point, said sensor providing an electrical signal which is related to the energy contained in said data carrying light;
• c) an electrically-controlled light polarizer consisting of an array of pixels, located between said data transmission and receiving points, such that the beam of said data-carrying light is forced to pass essentially through at least one active area of said polarizer;
• d) a lens for collimating said beam, such that the collimated beam passes through a plurality of the pixels;
• and
• e) circuitry for individually controlling the polarization of each pixel, and deflecting the direction of said collimated beam when emitted from said light polarizer, until a predetermined value of said electrical signal is obtained.

A data communication system for the alignment of optical interconnections between at least two optical data transmission points and at least two corresponding optical data receiving points, comprising:

• a) at least two data-carrying light sources for transmission from different transmission points;
• b) at least two optical sensors for receiving said data carrying light at said corresponding receiving points, each of said sensors providing an electrical signal which is related to the energy contained in its destined data-carrying light;
• c) an electrically-controlled light polarizer comprising an array of pixels, located between said at least two data transmission points and their corresponding at least two data receiving points, such that different beams of each data-carrying light are forced to pass essentially through different active areas of said polarizer;
• d) at least one lens for collimating said different beams, such that each collimated beam passes through a different group of pixels of said polarizer, each group of pixels being in a respectively different active area of said polarizer;
• and
• e) circuitry for individually controlling the polarization of each pixel in each group of pixels, and deflecting the direction of each collimated beam when emitted from its corresponding active area of said light polarizer, until a predetermined value of said electrical signal is obtained at each receiving point.