Reducing link repair rate using added redundancy in parallel optical links

Abstract

The technology generally relates to determining a status of an optical channel between two components. For example, the components may be connected via an optical link that includes multiple optical channels. A first portion of the optical channels may be used such that a second portion of the optical channels may be a redundant channel. The components may include a test generator that transmits and receives a data pattern over each channel. The test generator may determine a status of each of the channels based on the received data patterns. If the status of a given channel is a fault condition, the component may divert data of the given channel to the redundant channel.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 316,717, filed March 4, 2022, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. [Background technology]

[0002] Electrical components may be connected via multiple links, each link including multiple channels. When connected, the electrical links and / or electrical channels may support short distances between the electrical components. For example, the electrical components may be only a few millimeters apart. Due to the large number of electrical links and electrical channels between the electrical components, there may be many redundant electrical channels. Thus, although there may be redundant channels and / or links that may be used when a respective channel or link fails, the distance between the electrical components limits where the electrical components may be used. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The technology generally relates to determining a status of an optical channel between two components. For example, the components may be connected via an optical link that includes multiple optical channels. A first portion of the optical channels may be used such that a second portion of the optical channels may be a redundant channel and / or a redundant lane. The components may include a test generator that transmits and receives a data pattern over each channel. The test generator may determine a status of each of the channels based on the received data pattern. If the status of a given channel is a fault condition, the component may divert data of the given channel to the redundant channel.

[0004] One aspect of the present technology is directed to a component including an electrical interface, a test generator, and an optical-to-electrical converter configured to transmit and receive data over one or more optical channels. The test generator may be configured to determine a status of at least one of the optical channels based on data received by the optical-to-electrical converter, and when a status of a given optical link is determined to be a fault condition, the electrical interface may be configured to divert data of the given optical channel to another optical channel.

[0005] The test generator may be further configured to determine, based on the data received by the optical-to-electrical converter, that the state of the other channel is an active state. The test generator may be further configured to transmit an electrical data pattern. The optical-to-electrical converter may be configured to convert the electrical data pattern into an optical data pattern. The optical-to-electrical converter may be configured to transmit the optical data pattern over the one or more optical channels.

[0006] The data received by the optical-to-electrical converter may be an optical data pattern, and the optical-to-electrical converter may be further configured to convert the received optical data pattern to a received electrical data pattern. The test generator may be further configured to compare the received electrical data pattern to a known data pattern. When the received electrical data pattern differs from the known data pattern, the condition of the given channel may be a fault condition.

[0007] Another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a method that includes determining, by a test generator, a status of at least one optical channel based on data received by an optical-to-electrical converter, and diverting, by an electrical interface, data of the given optical channel to another optical channel when the status of the given optical link is determined to be a fault condition.

[0008] The method may further include determining, by the test generator, based on the data received by the optical-to-electrical converter, that the state of the other channel is working. The method may further include transmitting, by the test generator, an electrical data pattern. The method may further include converting, by the optical-to-electrical converter, the electrical data pattern to an optical data pattern. The method may further include transmitting, by the optical-to-electrical converter, the optical data pattern over the one or more optical channels.

[0009] The data received by the optical-to-electrical converter may be an optical data pattern. The method may further include converting, by the optical-to-electrical converter, the received optical data pattern to a received electrical data pattern. The method may further include comparing, by a test generator, the received electrical data pattern to a known data pattern. When the received electrical data pattern differs from the known data pattern, the condition of the given channel may be a fault condition.

[0010] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a system including a first optical component, a second optical component, and one or more optical links between the first and second components, the optical link including a plurality of optical channels, the plurality of optical channels including a plurality of active channels and one or more redundant channels, at least the first or second optical components may be configured to detect when one of the plurality of active channels fails and to divert data of one of the plurality of active channels to one of the one or more redundant channels.

[0011] The first or second optical component may be configured to detect that one of the one or more redundant channels is functional before diverting data.

[0012] The first optical component may include a first electrical interface, a first test generator, and a first optical-to-electrical converter, and the second optical component may include a second electrical interface, a second test generator, and a second optical-to-electrical converter.

[0013] Determining when a fault has occurred in an active channel may include receiving, by the first or second optical-to-electrical converter, data via one of the plurality of active channels, and determining, by the first or second test generator based on the received data, that a state of one of the plurality of active channels is a fault state. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of an exemplary system according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A] FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of an exemplary system according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B] FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of an exemplary system according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method according to an aspect of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] The present technology relates generally to transmitting signals over optical channels, and in particular to providing for diverting signals to a redundant channel or lane when a failure of the optical channel is detected. For example, the disclosure herein describes determining the state of an optical channel between two components. The state may be, for example, a fault state or a working state. A fault state may occur when a channel is not operating correctly, such as when data cannot be transmitted correctly on that channel. A working state may occur when a channel is operating correctly, such as when data is transmitted successfully over the channel. In instances where the state of an optical channel is a fault state, data intended to be transmitted over that channel may be diverted to an available channel.

[0016] According to some examples, the condition may be determined by a test generator and a checker within the component. For example, the test generator may transmit and / or receive an electrical data pattern. The test generator may include a checker that compares the received data pattern to a known data pattern. The known data pattern may be part of a predefined protocol. In examples where the received data pattern does not match the known data pattern, the test generator may determine that the condition of the given optical channel is a fault condition. Thus, the component may divert data intended for transmission over the given optical channel to another optical channel.

[0017] According to some examples, the components may determine the state of a given optical channel during an initial link-up between two components. The components may be at a lower layer of a data center, such as a physical layer. According to some examples, the physical layer may be coupled to an application specific integrated circuit ("ASIC") or a system on a chip ("SOC").

[0018] In some examples, the component may not require additional software to determine the status of a given optical link. For example, the component and / or the internal components may include a predefined protocol for determining the status of a given optical link. The protocol may additionally or alternatively determine how to divert data of the given optical link to another link. For example, the protocol may include instructions to divert data of a given optical link having a fault condition to an open or redundant optical channel having a working state. According to some examples, the protocol may be capable of diverting data of a given optical link having a fault condition to an open or redundant optical channel having a working state.

[0019] The components may include electrical components such as electrical interfaces, logic, test generators, and checkers. The components may include optical-to-electrical converters for converting electrical data to optical data before transmitting the data over the optical link. According to some examples, the optical-to-electrical converters may be optical chiplets. By using electrical components and optical-to-electrical converters such as optical chiplets, the components may include a large number of channels compared to traditional optical interconnects. For example, an electrical component may include thousands of electrical channels, while a traditional optical interconnect may include only a fraction of them, such as eight channels for a DR8 transceiver. Thus, the optical components may leave fewer channels open for redundancy. By using electrical components having a large number of channels in conjunction with optical-to-electrical converters, the components may have a large number of optical channels. This may allow the components to have more optical channels available as redundant optical channels compared to optical components. By having additional optical channels available as redundant optical channels, the components may tolerate a failure rate without repairing and / or replacing the components.

[0020] The use of optical channels may allow for a larger reach compared to electrical components. For example, the reach of an electrical component may be a few millimeters, while the reach between optical components may be up to 10 meters or more. By increasing the reach between components, optical connections may be used to support the separation of different resources such as memory, accelerators, etc.

[0021] Exemplary System FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system 100 including two components 102, 112. Although two components are illustrated in the example of FIG. 1, it should be understood that other examples may include additional components. The components 102, 112 may be, for example, optical chiplets, parallel optical engines, etc. The electrical interfaces 103, 113 and the test generators 105, 115 may be electrical components. According to some examples, the electrical interfaces 103, 113 and the test generators 105, 115 may each be in a main ASIC and / or in a memory. The optical-to-electrical converters 106, 116 may be separate optical chips in some examples. In some examples, the optical-to-electrical converters 106, 116 may be optical engines and / or optical chiplets. According to some examples, each component in the components 102, 112 may be part of an optical pluggable module. For example, the electrical interfaces 103, 113, the test generators 105, 115, and / or the optical-to-electrical converters 106, 116 may each be part of a respective optical pluggable module.

[0022] The components 102, 112 may be connected via one or more optical links 120. Each optical link 120 may include one or more optical channels 122. Each optical channel 122 may be configured to transmit and receive information and / or data. Although FIG. 1 shows two components 102, 112, a single optical link 120, and three optical channels 122, the system 100 may include more than two components, with each component connected to another component by one or more optical links that include one or more optical channels. Thus, a system 100 having only two components 102, 112 connected via an optical link 120 that includes an optical channel 122 is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting.

[0023] The first component 102 may include an electrical interface 103, a test generator 105, a checker 109, an optical-to-electrical converter 106, a transmitter 107, and a receiver 108. The electrical interface 103 may include logic 104.

[0024] The electrical interface 103 may be, for example, a die-to-die ("D2D") physical layer (PHY) circuit. The logic 104 may include, for example, a state machine, logic gates, truth tables, etc. The logic 104 may include one or more redundancy protocols for determining the state of the channel.

[0025] The test generator 105 may transmit an electrical data pattern. The electrical data pattern may be used to determine the condition of the optical channel. The test generator 105 may include a checker 109 in some examples. The checker 109 may be, for example, a comparison circuit or a software module or other unit configured to compare the received electrical data pattern with a known data pattern identified in a redundancy protocol. If the received electrical data pattern differs from the known data pattern, then the checker 109 may determine a fault condition of that given optical channel.

[0026] The optical-to-electrical converter 106 may convert the data as it is received. For example, the optical-to-electrical converter 106 may convert an electrical signal to an optical signal and / or an optical signal to an electrical signal without performing any correction on the data. In some examples, the optical-to-electrical converter 106 may not interfere with an initialization protocol when initially connecting the components 102, 112. According to some examples, the optical-to-electrical converter 106 may convert an electrical data pattern from the test generator 105 before transmitting the data pattern to the second component 112. Additionally or alternatively, the optical-to-electrical converter 106 may convert an optical data pattern received from the second component 112 to an electrical data pattern.

[0027] The optical-to-electrical converter 106 may include an optical transmitter 107 and an optical receiver 108. For example, after the optical-to-electrical converter 106 prepares the electrical data for optical transmission, the transmitter 107 may transmit an optical signal including the data to the second component 112. Additionally or alternatively, the receiver 108 may receive an optical signal including the data from the second component 112. The optical-to-electrical converter 106 may convert the optical data to electrical data before the data travels to the test generator 105 and / or the electrical interface 103.

[0028] The second component 112 may be similar in structure and function to the first component 102 and may include logic 114 , a test generator 115 , a checker 119 , an optical-to-electrical converter 116 , a transmitter 117 , and an electrical interface 113 including a receiver 118 .

[0029] Although each element within the components 102, 112 is shown as a separate block, the elements may be combined within the same physical housing or may reside in separate physical housings. Additionally, any element may include a collection or combination of subparts.

[0030] 1, the first component 102 may include multiple optical links 120 connecting the first component 102 to the second component 112. The optical links 120 may include multiple optical channels 122. As shown, the first component 102 may be optically coupled to the second component 112 via the optical links 120. The optical links 120 may include one or more optical channels 122. Although FIG. 1 shows only one optical link 120 and three optical channels 122 for clarity, it should be understood that any number of optical links and channels may be implemented.

[0031] The electrical interface 103 and / or logic 104 may determine and / or identify the number of optical links currently being used to couple the first component 102 and the second component 112. The number of optical channels currently being used to transmit information between the first component 102 and the second component 112 may differ from the total number of optical channels between the first component 102 and the second component 112 of a given optical link 120. For example, some optical channels may be reserved for redundancy. The number of channels reserved may be based on the number of channels being used. By way of example only, 2%, 5%, 10%, or any other percentage of the total number of channels may be reserved for redundancy, with the remainder being used to transmit optical signals. By way of example only, there may be 100 optical channels 122 in the optical link 120 between the first component 102 and the second component 112. Of the 100 optical channels 122, only 95 optical channels 122 may be actively used to send information between the first component 102 and the second component 112. Thus, there may be five redundant, or available, optical channels 122 in the optical link 120.

[0032] When one or more active channels fail, the redundant links may be used to send optical signals. For example, if a failure is detected in the active optical link A, data intended for transmission over the optical link A may be diverted to one or more of the redundant links for transmission. Such diverting may be performed, for example, using the electrical interface 103 and / or the logic 104. According to some examples, before diverting data from the failed active link, it may first be verified that the redundant link has a working state. A working state may be when the link is operating properly such that data may be transmitted between the first component 102 and the second component 112. A failure state may be when the link is unable to properly transmit data between the first component 102 and the second component 112.

[0033] To determine the status of the link, the test generator 105 may generate and transmit an electrical data pattern. The electrical data pattern may be, for example, a Reed-Solomon ("RS") code, a random pattern, a pseudo-random pattern, etc. The electrical data pattern may, in some examples, be part of a predetermined protocol. The test generator 105 may be pre-programmed to include the protocol.

[0034] The optical to electrical converter 106 may receive the electrical data pattern and convert the electrical data pattern to an optical data pattern that is transmitted to the second component 112 via the optical link 120. The optical to electrical converter 106 may, in some examples, be a transmissive converter. For example, the optical to electrical converter 106 may convert electrical data to optical data and / or optical data to electrical data without performing any corrections on the data.

[0035] For example, transmitter 107 may transmit an optical data pattern over link 120 that is received by receiver 118 of optical-to-electrical converter 116 of second component 112. Second component 112 may have similar elements to first component 102, including optical-to-electrical converter 116, transmitter 117, receiver 118, test generator 115, electrical interface 113, and logic 114.

[0036] The optical-to-electrical converter 116 of the second component 112 may convert the received optical data pattern to an electrical data pattern. The checker 119 may check the received data pattern to determine whether the received data pattern corresponds to the data pattern transmitted by the component 102. For example, the checker 119 may be preprogrammed with a protocol that includes a known data pattern. The checker 119 may compare the received data pattern to the known data pattern. For example, if the test generators 105, 115 are configured to transmit an RS code, the checker 119 may compare the received data pattern to the known RS code. If the checker identifies a difference between the received data pattern and the known data pattern, the checker 119 may determine that the condition of the optical channel is a fault condition.

[0037] According to some examples, the test generator 115 may retransmit the received data pattern regardless of whether the data pattern matches a known data pattern. For example, the optical-to-electrical converter 116 may convert the received electrical data pattern to an optical data pattern for transmission back to the first component 102. Thus, the data pattern may be transmitted in a loop between the test generator 105 of the first component 102 and the test generator 115 of the second component 112.

[0038] In instances where the received data pattern does not match a known data pattern, either or both of components 102, 112 may divert the data of a given channel to another working channel.

[0039] According to some examples, the first component 102 may be an anchor component 102. The anchor component may be, for example, a component that initiates a connection between components. Thus, the anchor component may be a component that initially transmits a data pattern. The anchor component, for example, the first component 102 in this example, may be responsible for diverting data from a channel having a fault condition to another channel. In some examples, the test generator 105, 115 may determine that the other channel has a working channel condition.

[0040] Diverting data of a given optical channel having a fault condition to another optical channel having a working condition may result in reduced downtime of communication between optical components. For example, electrical interface 103, 113 and / or logic 104 / 114 may divert data from a given channel to another channel in real-time and / or substantially in real-time such that data is not lost and / or delayed. Furthermore, diverting data of a given optical channel to another optical channel may not require repairing the optical interconnect. Thus, it may not be necessary to replace components 102, 112 and / or any internal components until additional redundant lanes are available.

[0041] According to some examples, when checker 119 determines that the data pattern received by component 112 matches the data pattern transmitted by component 102, electrical interface 113 and / or logic 114 may determine that the state of link 120 is working. That is, when the transmitted data pattern matches the received data pattern, optical link 120 is intact, and as a result, data transmitted over optical link 120 is not missing, damaged, corrupted, etc.

[0042] 2A and 2B show an example system having multiple optical channels in an optical link between two components. The system 200 may include a first component 102 and a second component 112 including electrical interfaces 103, 113, logic 104, 114, test generators 105, 115, checkers 109, 119, optical-to-electrical converters 106, 116, optical transmitters 107, 117, and optical receivers 108, 118. The first component 102 and the second component 112 and their internal components may be similar to those described above with respect to FIG.

[0043] The first component 102 may be optically connected to the second component 112 via one or more optical links 220. Although only one optical link 220 is shown, any number of optical links may be present. The optical link 220 may include multiple optical channels 222a-f, 224a-c. The optical channels 222a-f may be used at a given time to send data between the component 102 and the component 112. The optical channels 224a-c may be open or redundant channels at a given time. When a failure occurs in any of the optical channels 222a-f, data may be diverted from the failed channel to one of the open optical channels 224a-c.

[0044] In some examples, the test generators 105, 115 may transmit data patterns over the optical channels 222a-f to test the status of each of the optical channels 222a-f. For example, the test generator 105 may transmit an electrical data pattern. The optical-to-electrical converter 106 may convert the electrical data pattern to an optical data pattern. The transmitter 107 may then transmit the optical data pattern to the component 112 over each of the optical channels 222a-f, 224a-c.

[0045] The receiver 118 of the component 112 may receive the optical data pattern. The optical-to-electrical converter 116 may convert the electrical data pattern to an optical data pattern. The checker 119 may then compare the electrical data pattern to a known data pattern before the test generator retransmits the electrical data pattern back to the component 102. In some examples, when the checker 119 determines that the electrical data pattern does not match the known data pattern of a given channel, the checker 119 may determine that the condition of that optical channel is in a fault condition. For example, as shown in FIG. 2B, the condition of the optical channel 222f1 may be in a fault condition. That is, the checker 119 may have determined that the data pattern received on the optical channel 222f does not match the known data pattern.

[0046] In some examples, the electrical interface 113 and / or logic 114 may divert data of the optical channel 222f1 to the open or redundant optical channel 224a based on the fault condition of the optical channel 222f1. Additionally or alternatively, the electrical interface 103 and / or logic 104 may divert data of the optical channel 222f1 to the open optical channel 224a after receiving the incorrect data pattern. For example, the test generator 115 may retransmit the incorrect data pattern to the component 102. In such examples, the incorrect electrical data pattern may be converted to an optical data pattern by the optical-to-electrical converter 116 before transmission to the component 102. The receiver 108 may receive the optical data pattern, and the optical-to-electrical converter 106 may convert the optical data pattern to an electrical data pattern. The checker 109 may determine that the received data pattern does not correspond to a known data pattern of the redundancy protocol. Thus, the checker 109 may determine and / or confirm the status of the optical channel 222f1 as a fault condition. Electrical interface 103 and / or logic 104 may then reroute the data on optical channel 222f1 to optical channel 224a.

[0047] After the data for optical channel 222f1 is diverted to optical channel 224a, additional open optical channels 224b, 224c may remain. If checkers 109, 119 determine the status of any of optical channels 222a-e, 222f-j as a faulty status, the data for that given channel may be diverted to open optical channels 224b, 224c. In some examples, electrical interface 103, 113 and / or logic 104, 114 may divert data for a given channel to open optical channels 224b, 224c only if checkers 109, 119 determine the status of optical channels 224b, 224c as an operational status.

[0048] Exemplary Methods 3 illustrates an exemplary method for diverting data to another optical channel based on a fault condition of a given optical channel. The following operations need not be performed in the exact order described below. Rather, various operations may be addressed in a different order or simultaneously, and operations may be added or omitted.

[0049] At block 310, the test generator may determine a status of at least one optical link based on the data received by the optical-to-electrical converter.

[0050] For example, the component may include an electrical interface, a test generator, and an optical-to-electrical converter. The optical-to-electrical converter may transmit and / or receive optical data. In some examples, the optical-to-electrical converter may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The optical data may be, for example, an optical data pattern. The optical-to-electrical converter may convert the optical data pattern to an electrical data pattern. The test generator may compare the received electrical pattern to a known electrical pattern. For example, the test generator may be preprogrammed to include one or more known electrical data patterns. The known electrical data pattern may be, for example, an electrical data pattern that the test generator may transmit to another component.

[0051] To determine the status of the at least one optical link, the test generator may compare the received data to known data. According to some examples, the test generator may include a checker, such that the checker compares the received data to the known data. The data may be an electrical data pattern, such that the test generator compares the received electrical data pattern to the known electrical data pattern. If the received data pattern matches the known electrical data pattern, the test generator may determine that the status of the given optical channel is a working state. If the received data pattern does not match the known electrical data pattern, the test generator may determine that the status of the given optical channel is a faulty state.

[0052] At block 320, the electrical interface may divert data of the given optical link to another optical link when the state of the given optical link is determined to be in a fault state. For example, the test generator may determine that the state of the other link is in a working state based on data received by the optical-to-electrical converter. Thus, the electrical interface may divert data of the given optical link to an optical link having a working state. This may reduce downtime of transmitted data. Additionally or alternatively, since an optical link between two components may include multiple open or redundant optical channels, diverting data of the given optical link to an open optical link may eliminate the need to repair a component because using the open optical link does not reduce the bandwidth and / or transmission of any of the other optical links.

[0053] Unless otherwise stated, the above alternatives are not mutually exclusive, but may be implemented in various combinations to realize unique advantages. Because these and other variations and combinations of the above features may be utilized without departing from the subject matter defined by the claims, the above description of the embodiments should be construed as illustrative, and not limiting, of the subject matter defined by the claims. Furthermore, the provision of examples described herein, as well as clauses using phrases such as, including, and the like, should not be construed as limiting the subject matter of the claims to any particular example. Rather, the example is intended to illustrate only one of many possible embodiments. Moreover, the same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements.

Claims

1. A component, An electrical interface; A test generator, an optical-to-electrical converter configured to transmit and receive data over one or more optical channels; the test generator configured to determine a state of at least one of the optical channels based on the data received by the optical-to-electrical converter; when the condition of a given optical channel is determined to be a fault condition, the electrical interface is configured to divert data of the given optical channel to another optical channel. component.

2. The component of claim 1 , wherein the test generator is further configured to determine that the state of other channels is an operational state based on data received by the optical-to-electrical converter.

3. The component of claim 1 , wherein the test generator is further configured to transmit an electrical data pattern.

4. The component of claim 3 , wherein the optical-to-electrical converter is configured to convert the electrical data pattern into an optical data pattern.

5. The component of claim 4 , wherein the optical-to-electrical converter is configured to transmit the optical data pattern over the one or more optical channels.

6. the data received by the optical-to-electrical converter is an optical data pattern; the optical-to-electrical converter is further configured to convert the received optical data pattern into a received electrical data pattern. The component of claim 1 .

7. The component of claim 6 , wherein the test generator is further configured to compare the received electrical data pattern with a known data pattern.

8. The component of claim 7 , wherein the condition of the given channel is the fault condition when the received electrical data pattern differs from the known data pattern.

9. determining, by a test generator, a state of the at least one optical channel based on data received by the optical-to-electrical converter; when the condition of a given optical link is determined to be a fault condition, diverting data of the given optical channel to another optical channel by an electrical interface; A method comprising:

10. 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising determining, by the test generator, that the state of another channel is an operational state based on the data received by the optical-to-electrical converter.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising transmitting, by the test generator, an electrical data pattern.

12. 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising converting the electrical data pattern into an optical data pattern by the optical-to-electrical converter.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising transmitting, by the optical-to-electrical converter, the optical data pattern over the one or more optical channels.

14. the data received by the optical-to-electrical converter is an optical data pattern; 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising converting, by the optical-to-electrical converter, the received optical data pattern into a received electrical data pattern.

15. 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising comparing, by the test generator, the received electrical data pattern with a known data pattern.

16. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the condition of the given channel is the impairment condition when the received electrical data pattern differs from the known data pattern.

17. 1. A system comprising: A first optical component; and A second optical component; and one or more optical links between the first component and the second component, the optical links including a plurality of optical channels, the plurality of optical channels including a plurality of active channels and one or more redundant channels; at least the first or second optical component is configured to detect when a failure occurs in one of the plurality of active channels and to divert data of the one of the plurality of active channels to one of the one or more redundant channels.

18. 20. The system of claim 17, wherein the first or second optical component is configured to detect that the one of the one or more redundant channels is functional before diverting the data.

19. The first optical component comprises: a first electrical interface; A first test generator; a first optical-to-electrical converter; The second optical component comprises: a second electrical interface; A second test generator; a second optical-to-electrical converter; The system of claim 17 , comprising:

20. Determining when a failure occurs on the active channel includes: receiving data over the one of the plurality of active channels by the first or second optical-to-electrical converter; determining, by the first or second test generator based on the received data, that a condition of the one of the plurality of active channels is a fault condition; 20. The system of claim 19, comprising:

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