High-speed optical data links

A high-speed optical data link comprising:

• a system circuit board;
• a first ASIC coupled to receive electrical information form a remote circuit and a second ASIC electrically coupled to the first ASIC for conveying electrical signals therebetween through electrical traces on the system circuit board;
• and
• a fiber optic transmitter module mounted on the system circuit board, the transmitter module including a laser positioned to convey optical signals to a remote optical receiver, a laser driver electrically coupled to the laser, and the second ASIC electrically coupled to the laser driver, the first ASIC on the system circuit board including a clocking and equalization/retiming function for data transmission, and the second ASIC including a function for recovering distorted data through the same clocking function as provided by the first ASIC.

A high-speed optical data link comprising:

• a system circuit board;
• a first ASIC mounted on the system circuit board and coupled to convey electrical information to a remote circuit and to receive electrical information from a remote circuit, and a second ASIC mounted in an optical module and electrically coupled to the first ASIC for conveying electrical signals therebetween through electrical traces on the system circuit board;
• a fiber optic receiver mounted in the optical module, the receiver including a photo diode positioned to receive optical signals from a remote source, a trans-impedance amplifier electrically coupled to the photo diode, and a post-amplifier electrically coupled to the trans-impedance amplifier and to the second ASIC, the second ASIC including a clocking function and equalization/retiming function for data transmission, the first ASIC including a function for recovering distorted data through the same clocking function as provided by the second ASIC;
• and
• a fiber optic transmitter mounted in the optical module, the transmitter including a laser positioned to convey optical signals to a remote optical receiver, a laser driver electrically coupled to the laser and to the second ASIC, the first ASIC including a clocking function and equalization function for data transmission, and the second ASIC including a function for recovering distorted data through the same clocking function as provided by the first ASIC.

A method of electrically communicating information at rates at least equal to 10-gigabits per second on a circuit board comprising the steps of:

• providing a system circuit board including an optical transmitter module with a laser diode and a laser driver;
• receiving electrical signals from an external source at a first position on the system circuit board;
• clocking and equalizing/retiming the electrical signals on the system circuit board for data transmission;
• conveying the equalized signals to a second position on the system circuit board through electrical traces;
• receiving the signals at the second position and recovering distorted signals using a clock recovery and equalization/retiming step;
• and
• conveying the recovered equalized signals to the laser driver.