Design and implementation of an electro-optical backplane with pluggable in-plane connectors

Pitwon, Richard; Hopkins, Ken; Wang, Kai; Selviah, David R.; Baghsiahi, Hadi; Offrein, Bert Jan; Dangel, R.; Horst, Folkert; Halter, Markus; Gmur, M.

doi:10.1117/12.841985

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The close collaboration between the academic and industrial partners enabled the research to maintain focus throughout and ensured that the results were of relevance to industry. This was amply illustrated by the compilation of waveguide design rules by UCL which were used with Cadence Allegro PCB layout software to design the most complex interconnected backplane, followed by the completely successful incorporation and demonstration of that optical and electrical interconnect PCB backplane in the Xyratex system demonstrator (Pitwon et al , 2010) (Figure 15).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These define the minimum crossing angle for a given loss and crosstalk, the minimum bend radius for minimum loss, the minimum inter‐waveguide spacing for parallel waveguides to keep crosstalk below a predetermined limit, and the alignment accuracy required by a connector in x , y , z and θ to keep losses below a predetermined limit. These rules were validated by successfully applying them to the design of the fully connected backplane in Xyratex's system demonstrator (Wang et al , 2008b; Pitwon et al , 2010; Selviah, 2008, 2009b, c, 2010; Selviah et al , 2008b, 2009; Selviah and Milward, 2008). Measurements of waveguide structures formed by project partners using other fabrication methods and polymers allowed comparative design rules to be developed (Wang et al , 2008b, c).…”

Section: Mathematical Modelling and Cad Of Waveguide Interconnect Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the project, NPL developed an imaging measurement technique (Ives et al , 2009; Ives, 2008a, b), which was found to give results in good agreement with UCL to within the experimental measurement accuracies. UCL and Xyratex also jointly carried out bit error rate and eye diagram measurements on the advanced fully connected backplane waveguide design (Wang et al , 2008b; Pitwon et al , 2010) (Figure 15). Measurement results were fed back to all collaborators so that the manufacturing processes and polymer formulations could be optimised and consequently improved waveguides measured.…”

Section: Waveguide Quality Test and Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Integrated optical and electronic interconnect PCB manufacturing research

et al. 2010

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the research in a project aimed at developing manufacturing techniques for integrated optical and electronic interconnect printed circuit boards (OPCB) including the motivation for this research, the progress, the achievements and the interactions between the partners. Design/methodology/approach -Several polymer waveguide fabrication methods were developed including direct laser write, laser ablation and inkjet printing. Polymer formulations were developed to suit the fabrication methods. Computer-aided design (CAD) tools were developed and waveguide layout design rules were established. The CAD tools were used to lay out a complex backplane interconnect pattern to meet practical demanding specifications for use in a system demonstrator. Findings -Novel polymer formulations for polyacrylate enable faster writing times for laser direct write fabrication. Control of the fabrication parameters enables inkjet printing of polysiloxane waveguides. Several different laser systems can be used to form waveguide structures by ablation. Establishment of waveguide layout design rules from experimental measurements and modelling enables successful first time layout of complex interconnection patterns.Research limitations/implications -The complexity and length of the waveguides in a complex backplane interconnect, beyond that achieved in this paper, is limited by the bend loss and by the propagation loss partially caused by waveguide sidewall roughness, so further research in these areas would be beneficial to give a wider range of applicability. Originality/value -The paper gives an overview of advances in polymer formulation, fabrication methods and CAD tools, for manufacturing of complex hybrid-integrated OPCBs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mathematical Modelling and Cad Of Waveguide Interconnect Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Waveguide Quality Test and Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Integrated optical and electronic interconnect PCB manufacturing research

et al. 2010

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“…Zurich in Switzerland) are further extending the glass fiber nets in order to provide houses and apartments with high-speed communication (fiber to the home) [2]. Likewise, optical data transfer (first multimode, later single-mode) is currently penetrating also into systems [3], board-board (fiber ribbons, optical backplanes) and on-board communication.…”

Section: Electro-optical Circuit Boards For High-speed Data Transfermentioning

confidence: 98%

Design principles and realization of electro-optical circuit boards

et al. 2013

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The manufacturing of electro-optical circuit boards (EOCB) is based to a large extent on established technologies. First products with embedded polymer waveguides are currently produced in series. The range of applications within the sensor and data communication markets is growing with the increasing maturity level. EOCBs require design flows, processes and techniques similar to existing printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing and appropriate for optical signal transmission. A key aspect is the precise and automated assembly of active and passive optical components to the optical waveguides which has to be supported by the technology.The design flow is described after a short introduction into the build-up of EOCBs and the motivation for the usage of this technology within the different application fields. Basis for the design of EOCBs are the required optical signal transmission properties. Thereafter, the devices for the electro-optical conversion are chosen and the optical coupling approach is defined. Then, the planar optical elements (waveguides, splitters, couplers) are designed and simulated. This phase already requires co-design of the optical and electrical domain using novel design flows.The actual integration of an optical system into a PCB is shown in the last part. The optical layer is thereby laminated to the purely electrical PCB using a conventional PCB-lamination process to form the EOCB. The precise alignment of the various electrical and optical layers is thereby essential. Electrical vias are then generated, penetrating also the optical layer, to connect the individual electrical layers. Finally, the board has to be tested electrically and optically.

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“…One of the key challenges in designing polymer waveguide based electro-optical printed circuit boards (OPCBs) is providing an optical waveguide interconnect [1][2][3] pattern that can meet the stringent routing requirements inherent to navigating densely populated printed circuit board layouts while complying with the practical optical design constraints for multimode waveguides. In-plane bends are an inextricable requirement in complex waveguide layouts on OPCBs, however, practical values for optimum multimode waveguide bend radii range from 15 mm to 20 mm, whereby the bend loss is minimized with respect to arc length and bend radius [4][5][6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polymer optical waveguides with reduced in-plane bend loss for electro-optical PCBs

Pitwon¹,

Smith

Wang

et al. 2012

SPIE Proceedings

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In-plane bend loss represents the greatest commercial inhibitor to deploying multimode optical waveguides on densely populated electro-optical printed circuit boards (OPCB) as the minimum bend radii currently possible are too large to be practical in common designs. We present a concept and fabrication method for creating novel polymer optical waveguide structures with reduced bend losses to enable higher density routing on an OPCB. These nested core waveguide structures comprise a core surrounded by a thin shell of cladding, which allows for twofold modal containment by first a conventional low refractive index contrast (LIC) boundary followed by a secondary high refractive index contrast (HIC) boundary. The purpose of this is to reduce the in-plane bend losses incurred on tightly routed optical channels, while not incurring prohibitive dispersion, sidewall scattering and optical crosstalk penalties. We have designed and fabricated nested core multimode polymer waveguides, evaluated their performance in comparison to conventional step-index waveguides and simulated these structures using the beam propagation method. Preliminary results are presented of our measurements and simulations.

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Design and implementation of an electro-optical backplane with pluggable in-plane connectors

Cited by 8 publications

References 12 publications

Integrated optical and electronic interconnect PCB manufacturing research

Integrated optical and electronic interconnect PCB manufacturing research

Design principles and realization of electro-optical circuit boards

Polymer optical waveguides with reduced in-plane bend loss for electro-optical PCBs

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