Modular active board subassemblies and printed wiring boards comprising the same

Abstract

A modular active board subassembly for coupling a waveguide array to an electrical component on a printed wiring board may include a substrate board with a sidewall extending around at least a portion of an attachment surface of the substrate board and forming a component cavity on the attachment surface. A transceiver may be disposed in the component cavity proximate an inboard edge of the substrate board. The transceiver may be electrically coupled to conductors on the attachment surface and electrically coupled to electrical contacts on an upper surface of the sidewall. A waveguide may be positioned in the component cavity and extend from the outboard edge of the substrate to the transceiver. The waveguide may be coupled to the transceiver.

Description

[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority from US Application 12 / 714,021, filed February 26,2010. technical field [0002] The present invention relates generally to active circuit board interconnects, and more particularly to modular active board subassemblies and printed circuit board assemblies including modular active board subassemblies. Background technique [0003] High-performance computers require high-speed data interconnects among hundreds or thousands of discrete processing units. In a typical computer system, these processors are arranged on multiple printed circuit boards mounted on a number of different racks. As data rate requirements increase, the cost and physical size of electrical connecting cables have driven system designers to turn to optical connections. As the requirements for high-speed data interconnects increase, there is a continuing trend toward optical interconnects, starting with long or medium-length rack-to-rack connections. H...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, using conventional "cables" to bring optical signals directly to the processing unit is cumbersome and requires the use of connectors on the board surface close to the processing unit, which takes up considerable space on the mounting surface of the printed wiring board

In addition, placing optical cables above the surface of the board interferes with the airflow over the board, thus, adversely affecting the cooling of the electronic circuits located on the board

Images