I-PEX is shipping sample quantities of a new Embedded Optical Module (EOM) for Active Optical Modules for internal optical cable connections. The EOM uses the silicon-photonics IC optical I/O core from AIO Core Co., Ltd.
The I-PEX EOM is related to our I-PEX Embedded Optical Blade (EOB), an ultra-thin active optical module, which is still in development. While the EOB will have a built-in microprocessor in an ultra-thin package, the EOM omits the microprocessor to minimize the footprint. EOM has an extremely small footprint of 12 mm x 14 mm and transmits 100 Gbps (25 Gbps x 4 channels) over 300 m of multimode fiber cable. The optical cables are terminated with MT ferrules. By utilizing EOM, electrical-to-optical (E-to-O) and optical-to-electrical (O-to-E) conversion close to the processor is now available. This can dramatically decrease signal loss which can occur in the copper trace between the processor and the edge of the board.
In data center equipment, it is common for outside the box, high-speed signal connectivity to be achieved using pluggable optical modules. However, as data rates increase, electrical losses also increase, reducing the effective distance of mid-board transmitters, requiring re-timers or using heavier gauge copper cable to reach the chassis port. EOM makes it possible to shorten the copper trace length on the system board in data center equipment by placing the E-to-O conversion closer to the processor, reducing electrical transmission loss.
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