WO2011083454A2 - Communication de données optiques - Google Patents

Communication de données optiques Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2011083454A2
WO2011083454A2 PCT/IE2011/000001 IE2011000001W WO2011083454A2 WO 2011083454 A2 WO2011083454 A2 WO 2011083454A2 IE 2011000001 W IE2011000001 W IE 2011000001W WO 2011083454 A2 WO2011083454 A2 WO 2011083454A2
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
light
receiver
transmitter
fibre
fibre bundle
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IE2011/000001
Other languages
English (en)
Other versions
WO2011083454A3 (fr
Inventor
John D. Lambkin
David Barrow
Thomas Moriarty
Patrick Doyle
Original Assignee
Firecomms Limited
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Firecomms Limited filed Critical Firecomms Limited
Publication of WO2011083454A2 publication Critical patent/WO2011083454A2/fr
Publication of WO2011083454A3 publication Critical patent/WO2011083454A3/fr

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Classifications

    • 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
    • G02B6/4201—Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details
    • G02B6/4204—Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details the coupling comprising intermediate optical elements, e.g. lenses, holograms
    • 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
    • G02B6/02—Optical fibres with cladding with or without a coating
    • G02B6/02042—Multicore optical fibres

Definitions

  • the invention relates to optical data communication.
  • a particular challenge for optical communication systems is the transmission of high speed data using modulated light signals between consumer products in a manner that is both cost effective and commensurate with the need for consumer devices to tolerate rough handling and to be easy to use.
  • This challenge is most severe in the case of consumer handheld products such as MP3 audio players, video players and similar gaming devices that are subjected to frequent rough treatment in the course of their normal use and yet are required to transmit large quantities of data in an error- free manner.
  • high speed data can be sent in the form of modulated light signals over glass optical fibre.
  • standard telecommunication and enterprise communication systems use glass fibres with small core diameters, 8 - 10 ⁇ for single mode fibres and 50 and 62.5 ⁇ for multi-mode fibres. Examples are the products marketed as the Small Form Factor Pluggable 'SFP' transceiver modules by companies such as Finisar TM and AvagoTM
  • EP0486175 describes a coupler having a laser diode with multiple emitter regions, a microlens, and multiple optical fibres.
  • JP57162847 describes a device with a collimate lens and a semi-transparent oscillation film. The invention is therefore directed towards providing:
  • an optical communication system comprising: a transmitter comprising a light emitter and an optical element adapted to provide an optical output beam which is substantially collimated and has a beam diameter in the region of 50 ⁇ to 200 ⁇ ; and a receiver comprising an optical element and a photo-detector and adapted to receive light with a divergence of less than 20° and a beam diameter in the region of 50 ⁇ to 800 / i.
  • the light emitter comprises a vertical cavity surface emitting.
  • the light emitter includes a vertical cavity surface emitting laser operating at approximately 850 nm+/- 5%.
  • the transmitter is adapted to provide output light with a beam diameter in the range of
  • the transmitter and the receiver include windows to provide physical protection
  • the light emitter is adapted to transmit light with a wavelength in the range of 650 nm to 690 ran.
  • the receiver is adapted to receive light with a divergence of less than less than 12°
  • the receiver is adapted to receive light with a beam diameter in the range of 100 ⁇ ⁇ 500 ⁇ .
  • the receiver optical element comprises a lens of spherical or hemi-spherical shape.
  • the receiver optical element comprises a light concentrator.
  • the receiver photo-diode is in contact with the concentrator.
  • the concentrator comprises a transparent material' such that the light is concentrated through a process of total internal reflection.
  • the transmitter and receiver are adapted to enable transmission through free space.
  • the transmitter and the receiver comprise mating features configured to ensure that they are aligned accurately.
  • rein a mating feature includes an electrical connector.
  • the system further comprises a light transmitting medium for communication of light from the transmitter to the receiver, said medium comprising a plurality of fibre cores, and the transmitter and the receiver each comprise a socket for receiving and aligning the fibres.
  • the medium includes plastic optical fibre cores of poly(methyl methacrylate) material.
  • the medium includes plastic optical fibre of perfluorinated polymer material.
  • the length of the light transmitting medium is less than 2 m and the numerical aperture is approximately 0.5 or greater.
  • individual fibre cores have diameters in the range of 80 ⁇ to 150 ⁇ .
  • the total fibre bundle diameter is in excess of 300 ⁇ .
  • the medium includes an electrical conductor and the transmitter and the receiver comprise corresponding electrical connectors.
  • the transmitter and the receiver are configured to be used at the discretion of a user with either the transmission medium or with free space transmission.
  • the transmitter and the receiver are each adapted to be mounted within an electronic device.
  • the invention provides an apparatus comprising a plurality of electronic devices, wherein said devices include an optical communication system as defined above in any embodiment.
  • At least one electronic device is a handheld device such as a mobile phone.
  • At least one electronic device is a docking station and another is a handheld device. In one embodiment, at least two of the devices are adapted to be mounted in alignment to communicate with each other via the system through free space.
  • Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view showing an optical communication system of the invention, in which a multi-core fibre assembly is used as the communication medium;
  • Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view showing an optical communication system in which free space is the medium;
  • Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view showing an optical communication system in which a multi-core fibre assembly is used as the transmission medium and there is an elliptical reflector for concentrating received optical signals;
  • Fig. 4 shows a further system of the invention, in which there are engagement features between a fibre bundle and the transmitter and receiver; and Fig. 5 shows a variation in which an engagement feature not only allows the transmitter and receiver to align with a cable assembly but that the same alignment features can be used to align the transmitter and receiver when transmitting data through free space, and in this case the same engagement feature may also be used for electrical connection.
  • an optical communication system 1 comprises a transmitter 2, a multi-core fibre bundle cable assembly 3, and a receiver 4.
  • the transmitter 2 consists of a laser driver integrated circuit 5 which is used to modulate a light source 6 which in this preferred embodiment is a VCSEL.
  • the light 7 from the light source 6 is coupled through a lens 8 which modifies the light to provide a substantially collimated output beam 9 which is parallel or nearly so and has a beam diameter in the region of 100 ⁇ to 150 ⁇ and which is significantly larger than the core diameter of standard multimode or single mode glass fibres.
  • the transmitter 2 is also equipped with a fibre retaining socket (not shown). The choice of socket depends on the application. It could, for example, be of the type described in EP2035874 or EP2201418.
  • the fibre cable assembly 3 comprises a multi-core fibre bundle whose cross section is shown in the diagram at the bottom of Fig. 1.
  • the fibre bundle 3 comprises of seven individual cores arranged in a circularly symmetric fashion about a central fibre core 25.
  • the individual fibre cores (such as 24, 25 and 26) have core diameters in the region of 100/xm.
  • a connector (not shown) mounted on the fibre cable assembly 3 and a complimentary socket (not shown) on the transmitter 2 ensure that the collimated beam 9 is axially aligned with the central fibre core 25 of the fibre bundle 3.
  • This arrangement provides that the coupling efficiency of light from the transmitter 2 into the fibre bundle assembly 3 is insensitive to a significant level of lateral and axial misalignment between the fibre bundle cable assembly 3 and the transmitter 2.
  • an acceptable coupling efficiency can be maintained for a lateral misalignment of at least ⁇ 100 ⁇ and axial misalignment of greater than 1000 ⁇ .
  • the receiver 4 comprises a spherical lens 27 configured to collect light 22 emitted from the entire facet of the multi-core fibre bundle cable assembly 3 and focus the light onto a light detector 28. Due to the variation in the alignment of the transmitter 2 to the fibre bundle cable assembly 3 light may be coupled in varying proportions into all of the cores of the fibre bundle 3.
  • the light 22 emitted from the fibre bundle facet should have an emission divergence angle of approximately 1 1.5° (equivalent to a beam divergence with a numerical aperture of 0.2) or lower with respect to the normal of the fibre facet.
  • This low divergence angle of the light emission from the fibre bundle 3 is achieved by the combination of the collimated input beam from the transmitter 2 and restricting the fibre bundle 3 to a short length ( ⁇ 2m) despite the individual fibres of the bundle 3 having a numerical aperture of 0.5 or greater.
  • a large numerical aperture allows a significant degree of bending of the fibres without significant optical losses, but because of the input light being collimated and the short fibre length there is still little divergence in the light 22 outputted from the fibre assembly 3.
  • a connector mounted on the multi-core fibre bundle cable assembly 3 and a complimentary socket on the receiver 4 ensure that the low divergence beam 22 is axially aligned with the receiver 4.
  • the lens 27 is a spherical lens with a diameter greater than the total diameter of the multi-core fibre bundle facet. This arrangement provides that the coupling efficiency of light 22 from the entire facet of the fibre bundle cable assembly 3 to the receiver detector 28 is insensitive to the lateral and axial misalignment between the fibre bundle cable assembly 3 and the detector 28.
  • the system 1 has several significant advantages.
  • the transmitter 2 provides for the emission of a large-area collimated light beam and the receiver 4 provides for the collection of either a large area collimated light beam or a large area light beam with a low divergence and as such are tolerant to partial interference or interruption of the light beams by inadvertent debris or damage to the lens elements 8 or 27 without recourse to the use of fibre pigtails within the transmitter and receiver.
  • the transmitter 2 and the receiver 4 which are free from fibre pigtail elements and can be implemented in small form factor modules that can be positioned within a hand-held consumer device with optimum flexibility, for example, at the edge of a PCB in close proximity to the external surface of the consumer device.
  • the cable assembly can be implemented without recourse to additional lensed fibre arrangements for focusing light from the transmitter and thus can be implemented with lower complexity and hence lower cost.
  • the large area of the multi-core fibre bundle facet compared to the area of a single glass fibre facet, provides for the multi-core fibre bundle cable assembly 3 to be tolerant to inadvertent damage to the facet or the accumulation of debris.
  • the multi-core fibre bundle cable assembly 3 is of a maximum length of 2 m and the fibre bundle consists of fibre elements of plastic optical fibre ("POF") manufactured from poly(methylmethacrylate) (“PMMA").
  • POF plastic optical fibre
  • PMMA poly(methylmethacrylate)
  • the numerical aperture of the fibre core elements should be greater than 0.5.
  • the use of a multi-core POF has several advantages, particularly when applied to consumer devices that are exposed to high levels of rough handling: - the light output beam from short lengths of POF that have been excited with a collimated or low numerical aperture light source, such as that generated by the transmitter 2, will in turn generate a low divergence output light beam that is compatible with efficient coupling into the receiver 4 even when the POF itself has a high numerical aperture;
  • - multi-core POF with individual fibre core diameters of approximately 100 ⁇ and numerical aperture of greater than 0.5 provides for a fibre cable that is highly robust in relation to mechanical and thermo-mechanical stress (crush, bending, tension, buckle, thermal shock and humidity) and has very low optical loss when subjected to extremely tight bends;
  • the manufacturing complexity and hence the cost of the multi-core POF fibre bundle cable assembly can be reduced in comparison to the use of glass fibre bundles since the end facets can be easily prepared, for example by using laser-assisted cutting without resort to time-consuming and expensive polishing processes.
  • a hemispherical lens can be attached directly to the fibre bundle facet from which the light exits and provides for a higher quality collimated beam.
  • the hemispherical lens can be implemented in a low cost fashion by means of applying liquid epoxy.
  • Fig. 2 schematically shows a system 35 of another embodiment.
  • the system 35 comprises the transmitter 2 and the receiver 4, but with free space in-between.
  • the transmitter 2 and the receiver 4 are those of the system 1 but do not have fibre sockets and which without further modification provide for the transmission of data through free space on a path 41 over distances of a few mm or greater as the output beam 9 of the transmitter 2 is collimated and the receiver 4 is capable of efficiently collecting light from such a collimated light beam.
  • Fig. 2 also shows the light beam path 40 that arises when the transmitter 2 and the receiver 4 are laterally misaligned with respect to each other and shows that the system 35 is tolerant to such misalignment, providing approximately ⁇ 100 ⁇ lateral misalignments.
  • Alignment of the transmitter 2 with the receiver 4 may be assisted by alignment features, and this may extend to the receiver being in a cradle for a hand-held device which has the transmitter.
  • the separation of the transmitter and the receiver is preferably small, preferably less than 100 mm, and most preferably less than 10 mm.
  • Figs. 1 and 2 provide that data may be transferred from the transmitter 2 to the receiver 4 using a choice of connection media, that is, a low-cost consumer- friendly fibre cable assembly 3 using multi-core POF or directly through free space, without modification to the transmitter 2 and receiver 4.
  • this feature allows for the possible scenario of implementing a free space link between a handheld device and a docking station where both are enabled with the transmitters 2 and receivers 4 of this invention and where the axial, lateral and angular misalignment tolerances can be easily maintained through appropriate mechanical alignment features present in the handheld device and docking station.
  • the same handheld device may be connected to a display equipped with the transmitters 2 and receivers 4 of this invention using a fibre cable assembly equipped with the same appropriate mechanical alignment features.
  • a handheld device-to-handheld device data transfer link could be instigated at the user's discretion either using a multi-core fibre bundle cable assembly 3 or alternatively the user could instigate a free space connection provided that the appropriate physical features on the pair of devices were implemented to maintain the necessary alignment tolerances concerning axial, lateral and angular misalignment.
  • a system 45 has the transmitter 2, the fibre bundle assembly 3, and a receiver 50.
  • the receiver 50 has a reflective conical concentrator 51 directing light to a photo-detector 52 whose signal output is passed on to an integrated circuit 53.
  • the conical concentrator 51 can achieve a high coupling efficiency to the detector 52 for an input beam with a large diameter. Also, it can be formed by using a high refractive index transparent material relying on total internal reflection for directing the light from the fibre facet to the detector. Preferably, there is no air gap between the output surface of the concentrator 51 and the detector 52 surface.
  • the receiver 50 is highly tolerant to the angle which the input beam enters the concentrator, and it is very compact.
  • the concentrator may alternatively have a mirror surface on the outside of a solid transparent body, so that the receiver does not require an air cavity as would be the case for a lens, allowing the construction of a more rugged receiver assembly.
  • a system 100 has components which are the same as those of the system 45, however, in this case there are simple male-female features 60 for inter-engagement of the receiver with the input end of the fibre assembly and between the fibre assembly and the receiver 50.
  • the features are annular, however, they could be pins and corresponding sockets.
  • Fig. 5 shows a system 200, and again like parts are assigned the same reference numerals, in which pin-and-socket features 60 and 70 are provided for alignment where free space is the medium. Furthermore, the features 70 function as an electrical connector.
  • the transmitter may have an optical element other than a lens, such as a reflector operating in the opposite sense to the concentrator 51.
  • the transmitter may include graded index lenses
  • the receiver may include a plurality of lenses
  • the receiver may include non-spherical lenses.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Optical Couplings Of Light Guides (AREA)

Abstract

La présente invention se rapporte à un système de communication optique (1) qui comprend un émetteur (2), un ensemble câble à faisceau de fibres à conducteurs multiples (3) et un récepteur (4). L'émetteur (2) se compose d'un circuit intégré à lecteur laser (5) qui est utilisé pour moduler une source de lumière (6), dont la lumière (7) est couplée au moyen d'une lentille (8) qui transmet un faisceau de sortie sensiblement collimaté (9) qui est parallèle ou presque parallèle et présente un diamètre de faisceau dans la plage allant de 100 μm à 150 μm. Le premier ensemble câble (3) comprend un faisceau de fibres à conducteurs multiples. Les conducteurs de fibre individuelle (24, 25 et 26) présentent des diamètres de conducteur dans la plage de 100 μm. Cet agencement permet que l'efficacité de couplage de la lumière provenant de l'émetteur (2) dans l'ensemble à faisceau de fibres (3) ne soit pas sensible à un niveau significatif d'un mauvais alignement latéral et axial entre l'ensemble câble à faisceau de fibres (3) et l'émetteur (2). Pour ce mode de réalisation, une efficacité de couplage acceptable peut être maintenue pour un mauvais alignement latéral d'au moins ± 100 μm et pour un mauvais alignement axial supérieur à 1 000 μm. Le récepteur (4) comprend une lentille sphérique (27) configurée pour recueillir la lumière (22) émise depuis la facette entière de l'ensemble câble à faisceau de fibres à conducteurs multiples (3) et focaliser la lumière sur un détecteur de lumière (28). La lumière peut être couplée dans des proportions variables dans tous les conducteurs du faisceau de fibres (3). La lumière (22) émise depuis la facette de faisceau de fibres a un petit angle de divergence, obtenu par la combinaison de la collimation et de la courte longueur du faisceau de fibres (< 2m) bien que les fibres individuelles du faisceau (3) aient une ouverture numérique égale ou supérieure à 0,5.
PCT/IE2011/000001 2010-01-11 2011-01-11 Communication de données optiques WO2011083454A2 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US28226910P 2010-01-11 2010-01-11
US61/282,269 2010-01-11

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WO2011083454A2 true WO2011083454A2 (fr) 2011-07-14
WO2011083454A3 WO2011083454A3 (fr) 2011-09-09

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Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2019003162A (ja) * 2017-06-20 2019-01-10 旭化成株式会社 プラスチック光ファイバ及びプラスチック光ファイバケーブル

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0486175A2 (fr) 1990-11-16 1992-05-20 Spectra-Physics Laser Diode Systems Incorporated Dispositif pour coupler une diode laser d'émetteurs multiples avec une fibre optique multimode
EP2035874A1 (fr) 2006-06-21 2009-03-18 Firecomms Limited Connecteur optique
EP2201418A1 (fr) 2007-10-12 2010-06-30 Firecomms Limited Connecteur à fibre optique

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0486175A2 (fr) 1990-11-16 1992-05-20 Spectra-Physics Laser Diode Systems Incorporated Dispositif pour coupler une diode laser d'émetteurs multiples avec une fibre optique multimode
EP2035874A1 (fr) 2006-06-21 2009-03-18 Firecomms Limited Connecteur optique
EP2201418A1 (fr) 2007-10-12 2010-06-30 Firecomms Limited Connecteur à fibre optique

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2019003162A (ja) * 2017-06-20 2019-01-10 旭化成株式会社 プラスチック光ファイバ及びプラスチック光ファイバケーブル
JP7133290B2 (ja) 2017-06-20 2022-09-08 旭化成株式会社 プラスチック光ファイバ及びプラスチック光ファイバケーブル

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