GB2275576A - Electronic circuit assembly with optically transmissive vias - Google Patents
Electronic circuit assembly with optically transmissive vias Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2275576A GB2275576A GB9402565A GB9402565A GB2275576A GB 2275576 A GB2275576 A GB 2275576A GB 9402565 A GB9402565 A GB 9402565A GB 9402565 A GB9402565 A GB 9402565A GB 2275576 A GB2275576 A GB 2275576A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- board
- components
- vias
- electronic circuit
- circuit assembly
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
- H05K1/00—Printed circuits
- H05K1/18—Printed circuits structurally associated with non-printed electric components
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
- G02B6/42—Coupling light guides with opto-electronic elements
- G02B6/43—Arrangements comprising a plurality of opto-electronic elements and associated optical interconnections
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
- H05K1/00—Printed circuits
- H05K1/02—Details
- H05K1/0274—Optical details, e.g. printed circuits comprising integral optical means
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
- H05K2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to printed circuits covered by H05K1/00
- H05K2201/09—Shape and layout
- H05K2201/09009—Substrate related
- H05K2201/09063—Holes or slots in insulating substrate not used for electrical connections
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
- H05K2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to printed circuits covered by H05K1/00
- H05K2201/09—Shape and layout
- H05K2201/09009—Substrate related
- H05K2201/09072—Hole or recess under component or special relationship between hole and component
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
- H05K2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to printed circuits covered by H05K1/00
- H05K2201/10—Details of components or other objects attached to or integrated in a printed circuit board
- H05K2201/10431—Details of mounted components
- H05K2201/10507—Involving several components
- H05K2201/10545—Related components mounted on both sides of the PCB
Abstract
An electronic circuit assembly consists of a printed circuit board (10) having electronic components (14, 16) mounted on opposite faces of the board. The board has optically transmissive vias (12) extending between the opposite faces of the board. The components on the two sides of the board communicate with each other by optical signals transmitted by transmission/reception means (18) through the vias. The components may comprise processor chips and cache memory chips. The vias may be formed by excimer laser ablation, using a mask. <IMAGE>
Description
ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT ASSEMBLY
Background to the Invention
This invention relates to electronic circuit assemblies.
More specifically, the invention is concerned with an electronic circuit assembly comprising a printed circuit board having electronic components mounted on both sides of the board.
A problem which arises with such an assembly is how to communicate signals between components on opposite sides of the board. One conventional way of doing this is by means of electrically conductive vias (eg plated through-holes) which extend between the two sides of the board. If many connections are required, many such vias must be provided, and it may be difficult to fit all these vias into the available area of the board. This problem is particularly acute in the case where it is required to connect a processing unit on one side of the board to a cache memory on the opposite side of the board. In this case, a large number of connections are required, corresponding to the width of the data/address bus between the processor and cache, and the path length of all the connections must be kept as short as possible to reduce signal propagation delays.
The object of the present invention is to provide a novel way of overcoming this problem.
Summary of the Invention
According to the invention there is provided an electronic circuit assembly comprising a printed circuit board having at least first and second electronic components mounted on opposite faces of the board, wherein the board has an optically transmissive via extending between the opposite faces of the board, and the first and second components communicate with each other by means of optical signals transmitted through said via.
Because of the potentially very high bandwidth of an optical signal, a single optical via can replace a large number of electrically conductive vias. Hence, it is possible, for example, to connect a processor unit to a cache using only a single optical via, thus avoiding the above-mentioned problems.
Brief Description of the Drawinq The drawing is a sectional elevation of an electronic circuit assembly embodying the invention.
Description of an Embodiment of the Invention
On electronic circuit assembly in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing.
Referring to the drawing, the electronic circuit assembly comprises a multi-layer printed circuit board 10.
The board 10 has a number of optical vias 12 formed in it.
Each optical via consists of a hole 5 microns in diameter, extending from one side of the board to the other. The vias are preferably formed by excimer laser ablation, using a mask to define the shape of the hole.
A number of electronic components 14 are mounted on one side of the board, and a similar number of electronic components 16 are mounted on the other side of the board. Each pair of components 14, 16 are mounted at opposite ends of one of the optical vias 12. Each component includes an optical transmitter and an optical receiver (indicated jointly by the reference numeral 18). The transmitter produces an optical signal modulated by a data signal. The receiver receives a modulated optical signal and demodulates the signal to produce a data signal. Thus, it can be seen that each component 14 can communicate with the corresponding component 16 on the other side of the board by means of an optical data signal, through the optical via 12.
In this example, the components 14 may be processing unit chips, while the components 16 may be cache memory chips. In this case, the connection between the components 14, 16 through the optical vias provides a high speed, high bandwidth, connection between the processing units and the cache memories.
In another embodiment of the invention, all the components 14, 16 may be memory chips. In this case, the use of the optical vias allows a double sided store arrangement with reduced address line delays.
In the example described above, the optical connection is two-way. However, in some cases, only one-way communication is required between the two sides of the board, and so each component may have either an optical transmitter or an optical receiver.
Claims (5)
1. An electronic circuit assembly comprising a printed
circuit board having at least first and second
electronic components mounted on opposite faces of the
board, wherein the board has an optically transmissive
via extending between the opposite faces of the board,
and the first and second components communicate with
each other by means of optical signals transmitted
through said via.
2. An assembly according to Claim 1 wherein said optically
transmissive via comprises a hole formed by laser
ablation.
3. An assembly according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein one of
said components is a processing unit and the other of
said components is a cache memory unit.
4. An assembly according to any preceding claim wherein
each of said components includes an optical transmitter
for generating a modulated optical signal and also an
optical receiver for receiving a modulated optical
signal.
5. An electronic circuit assembly substantially as
hereinbefore described with reference to the
accompanying drawing.
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB939303989A GB9303989D0 (en) | 1993-02-26 | 1993-02-26 | Electronic circuit assembly |
Publications (3)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| GB9402565D0 GB9402565D0 (en) | 1994-04-06 |
| GB2275576A true GB2275576A (en) | 1994-08-31 |
| GB2275576B GB2275576B (en) | 1996-04-24 |
Family
ID=10731138
Family Applications (2)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB939303989A Pending GB9303989D0 (en) | 1993-02-26 | 1993-02-26 | Electronic circuit assembly |
| GB9402565A Expired - Lifetime GB2275576B (en) | 1993-02-26 | 1994-02-10 | Electronic circuit assembly |
Family Applications Before (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB939303989A Pending GB9303989D0 (en) | 1993-02-26 | 1993-02-26 | Electronic circuit assembly |
Country Status (2)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| JP (1) | JPH06268588A (en) |
| GB (2) | GB9303989D0 (en) |
Cited By (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US6172330B1 (en) | 1997-02-28 | 2001-01-09 | Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. | Method and apparatus for forming a through hole in a ceramic green sheet |
| WO2003039216A1 (en) * | 2001-11-02 | 2003-05-08 | Imego Ab | Carrier arrangement for carrying optical components and connecting optical signals and method of manufacturing the same |
| WO2012047220A1 (en) * | 2010-10-07 | 2012-04-12 | Empire Technology Development Llc | Data transmission through optical vias |
Families Citing this family (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JP2531426B2 (en) * | 1993-02-01 | 1996-09-04 | 日本電気株式会社 | Multi-scan LCD device |
-
1993
- 1993-02-26 GB GB939303989A patent/GB9303989D0/en active Pending
-
1994
- 1994-02-10 GB GB9402565A patent/GB2275576B/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1994-02-22 JP JP6024285A patent/JPH06268588A/en not_active Withdrawn
Cited By (6)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US6172330B1 (en) | 1997-02-28 | 2001-01-09 | Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. | Method and apparatus for forming a through hole in a ceramic green sheet |
| US6359255B1 (en) | 1997-02-28 | 2002-03-19 | Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. | Method for forming a through hole in a ceramic green sheet |
| WO2003039216A1 (en) * | 2001-11-02 | 2003-05-08 | Imego Ab | Carrier arrangement for carrying optical components and connecting optical signals and method of manufacturing the same |
| WO2012047220A1 (en) * | 2010-10-07 | 2012-04-12 | Empire Technology Development Llc | Data transmission through optical vias |
| US8680458B2 (en) | 2010-10-07 | 2014-03-25 | Empire Technology Development, Llc | Data transmission through optical vias |
| US8933390B2 (en) | 2010-10-07 | 2015-01-13 | Empire Technology Development Llc | Data transmission through optical vias |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| JPH06268588A (en) | 1994-09-22 |
| GB9402565D0 (en) | 1994-04-06 |
| GB9303989D0 (en) | 1993-04-14 |
| GB2275576B (en) | 1996-04-24 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 732E | Amendments to the register in respect of changes of name or changes affecting rights (sect. 32/1977) | ||
| PE20 | Patent expired after termination of 20 years |
Expiry date: 20140209 |