Fast 1.25-Gbps optical transceiver suits low-cost applications
Hamamatsu Photonics has developed an optical transceiver, designated P16671-01AS, that achieves fiber-optic communications at a data transmission speed of 1.25 Gbps. It offers a significantly higher speed than our current optical link products and comes with standard-compliant optical connectors that attach to optical fibers. For short-distance board-to-board communication within the equipment, the optical transceiver is usable with inexpensive POF (plastic optical fibers) achieving high-speed data communication at a low cost. Also, using it along with HPCF (hard plastic clad fibers) or large-diameter glass optical fibers extends the data transmission distance up to 100 meters making it ideal for setting up a network or communicating between devices or equipment.
Hamamatsu Photonics designs, manufactures and markets fiber-optic communication products. This includes transmitter photo ICs which are integrated with a light emitter and a driver circuit as well as receiver photo ICs which are integrated with a light sensor and signal processing circuit, capable of a maximum data transmission speed of 150 Mbps. The company has also been developing optical transceivers that deliver higher- speed data communication and include optical connectors that couple to optical fibers.
Unlike our current transmitter photo ICs that use a LED as the light emitter, the P16671-01AS optical transceiver uses a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) that operates at higher speeds to further increase the data transmission speed. However, handling the VCSEL, compared to a LED, is difficult because the VCSEL light output differs from product to product and the output also greatly fluctuates with changes in ambient temperature. To solve this problem and achieve stable operation, the P16671-01AS employs a driver IC that compensates for different light outputs from individual VCSEL. The P16671-01AS also uses a high-speed light sensor and a signal processing IC that maximizes the light sensor characteristics, which were designed in-house. This in turn enabled the successful development of an optical transceiver with a data transmission speed of 1.25 Gbps.
Practical applications of the P16671-01AS include short-distance board-to-board communications using POF in equipment such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment, scientific and laboratory instruments, and measuring instruments as well as image and video transmission in medical equipment. When used with HPCF or large-diameter glass optical fibers, medium-to-long distance communication and networking between equipment is possible up to distances of 100 meters. Therefore, using the P16671-01AS in conjunction with a suitable optical fiber will achieve high-speed communication spanning a wide range of applications.
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