System, communication device, optical module, method, and optical network

Abstract

The present application provides a system, a communication device, an optical module, a method, and an optical network, used for providing a channel-level control scheme for a power consumption mode of an optical module and improving the precision of power consumption control performed by a host on the optical module, thereby allowing the host to configure the power consumption mode of the optical module as a power consumption mode that meets a network traffic requirement and has the lowest power consumption, and thus reducing overall power consumption of the system.

Description

System, communication device, optical module, method and optical network

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. CN202410986846.0, filed on July 22, 2024, and entitled "System, communication device, optical module, method and optical network", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of optical communication technology, in particular to a system, a communication device, an optical module, a method and an optical network. BACKGROUND

[0003] The advent of the cloud era has promoted the vigorous development of various Internet applications, greatly enriching people's lives. Along with it, the network traffic grows exponentially, which puts higher requirements on the bandwidth, latency, power consumption, reliability, scalability and flexibility of the data center behind it.

[0004] In order to obtain high bandwidth, lower latency and lower power consumption, it is considered to deploy an optical network in a data center. However, as the communication rate continues to grow, the power consumption of the optical module in the optical communication equipment continues to increase. For multi-channel QSFP / OSFP / QSFP-DD optical modules, the Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) defines a software management interface, combined with the hardware multi-source agreement (MSA) of the corresponding module, the host can manage the power consumption mode of the entire optical module. For example, the host can control the power consumption mode of all channels of the optical module to be in a high power consumption mode or a low power consumption mode.

[0005] However, as the number of optical module channels increases and the single-channel rate further improves, it is still challenging to explore a control scheme for the power consumption mode of the optical module to reduce the overall power consumption of the system. SUMMARY

[0006] From the perspective of telecommunication network traffic characteristics, the traffic during idle time is sometimes less than 10% of the full link bandwidth, showing the characteristics of tidal flow. Based on the characteristics of network traffic fluctuation over time, the present application provides a system, a communication device, an optical module, a method and an optical network for providing a channel-level control scheme for the power consumption mode of the optical module, which is beneficial to improve the fineness of the host's power consumption control of the optical module, thereby facilitating the host to configure the power consumption mode of the optical module to meet the demand of the network traffic and the lowest power consumption mode, and further reducing the overall power consumption of the system.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present application provides a system, which comprises a connected communication device and an optical module having a plurality of channels. The communication device is configured to send control information to the optical module, the control information comprising first control information for controlling a power consumption mode of a first channel of the plurality of channels; and the optical module is configured to receive the control information and control the power consumption mode of the first channel according to the first control information.

[0008] The host can control the optical module to switch between high and low power consumption at the channel level by sending the first channel control information to the optical module, thereby reducing the granularity of power consumption control, improving the precision of the host's power consumption control of the optical module, and thus facilitating the host to configure the power consumption mode of the optical module to meet the network traffic demand and minimize power consumption, thereby reducing the overall system power consumption.

[0009] The first control information can not be used to control the power consumption mode of other channels in the plurality of channels except the first channel. For example, the host can control the power consumption mode at the channel level to turn off part of the channels to make them not work, without affecting the normal work of other channels, thereby achieving the purpose of energy saving.

[0010] Before the optical module controls the power consumption mode of the first channel according to the first control information, the power consumption mode of the first channel is a first power consumption mode, and optionally, the first control information is used to indicate to set the power consumption mode of the first channel to a second power consumption mode. The first control information can not be used to indicate the power consumption mode of other channels, or in other words, not used to indicate to set other channels in the plurality of channels except the first channel to the second power consumption mode.

[0011] The first power consumption mode and the second power consumption mode can be different power consumption modes, or in other words, the power consumption of the first channel in the first power consumption mode is different from the power consumption of the first channel in the second power consumption mode.

[0012] The present application does not limit the way the communication device sends control information to the optical module. Optionally, the communication device is configured to send a control signal to the optical module, the control signal being used to configure the value of one or more configuration items (referred to as target configuration items) of the optical module; the optical module is configured to receive the control signal and configure the value of the target configuration items of the optical module according to the control signal; and the optical module is configured to determine the first control information according to the value of a first configuration item combination of the optical module, wherein the first configuration item combination comprises a plurality of configuration items, the first configuration item combination comprises the target configuration items, and at least one configuration item in the first configuration item combination is a configuration item of the first channel, and the value of the configuration item of the first channel is used to control the power consumption mode of the first channel.

[0013] Optionally, the control information further comprises second control information, the second control information being used to control a power consumption mode of a second channel of the plurality of channels. The second control information can be used to indicate the power consumption mode of the second channel, and can not be used to indicate the power consumption mode of other channels. Before the optical module controls the power consumption mode of the second channel according to the second control information, the power consumption mode of the second channel is a third power consumption mode, and optionally, the second control information is used to indicate that the power consumption mode of the second channel is set to a fourth power consumption mode. The third power consumption mode and the fourth power consumption mode can be different power consumption modes, or in other words, the power consumption of the second channel in the third power consumption mode is different from the power consumption of the second channel in the fourth power consumption mode.

[0014] The optical module is further configured to determine second control information according to a value of a second configuration item combination of the optical module, wherein the second configuration item combination comprises a plurality of configuration items, and at least one configuration item in the second configuration item combination is a configuration item of the second channel, and the value of the configuration item of the second channel is used to control the power consumption mode of the second channel; and the optical module is further configured to control the power consumption mode of the second channel according to the second control information.

[0015] The configuration item of the first channel and the configuration item of the second channel can be different. Optionally, the value of the configuration item of the first channel and the value of the configuration item of the second channel are stored in different registers, or are stored in different bit fields in the same register.

[0016] The communication device can send control information used to control the power consumption mode of different channels by sending different control signals. For example, the control information (such as the first control information) used to control the power consumption mode of the first channel is transmitted to the optical module by sending a control signal used to configure the configuration item of the first channel, and the control information (such as the second control information) used to control the power consumption mode of the second channel is transmitted to the optical module by sending a control signal used to configure the configuration item of the second channel.

[0017] Alternatively, the communication device can transmit the same control signal to convey the control information for controlling the power consumption modes of the different channels to the optical module. For example, the target configuration item can be a configuration item of the multiple channels, for controlling the power consumption modes of the multiple channels. The first configuration item combination and the second configuration item combination each include the target configuration item, and the communication device transmits the control signal to configure or change the value of the target configuration item, which facilitates to simultaneously configure or change the values of the first configuration item combination and the second configuration item combination. Correspondingly, the optical module can determine the first control information and the second control information according to the control signal, and thus control the power consumption mode of the first channel according to the first control information and control the power consumption mode of the second channel according to the second control information.

[0018] Optionally, the first control information and the second control information are used to set the power consumption modes of the first channel and the second channel to different power consumption modes, that is, the second power consumption mode and the fourth power consumption mode can be different, or the corresponding power consumptions of the two can be different. The first power consumption mode and the third power consumption mode can be the same or different.

[0019] The application does not limit the type of control signal. For example, the control signal can be a bus signal, which is used to indicate the write position of the write operation and the written data. The write position can be the position of the register of the optical module or one or more bit fields in the register. The data or value in the write position can be used to indicate or determine the value of the target configuration item.

[0020] Alternatively, the control signal can be a hardware input signal received by the optical module through a hardware pin. The optical module can determine the value of the target configuration item according to the data carried by the hardware input signal or the value of the hardware input signal. In this way, it is advantageous to reduce the time required for power consumption state switching, and the method of fast high-low power consumption switching supports the low-power fast wake-up of the optical module, which is advantageous to the host to control the optical module to be in low-power consumption to the maximum extent, and further reduces the system power consumption.

[0021] Optionally, the optical module comprises a control unit and a communication unit, the communication unit is directly connected to the hardware pins; the control unit is configured to control the communication unit; the communication unit is configured to receive the control signal through the hardware pins and determine the control information according to the control signal; and the communication unit is further configured to control the power consumption mode of the first channel according to the first control information in the control information, for example, perform data processing in the sending direction (for example, receive the electrical signal of the first channel from the communication device and convert the electrical signal of the first channel into the optical signal of the first channel) and / or perform data processing in the receiving direction (for example, convert the optical signal of the first channel into the electrical signal of the first channel and send the electrical signal of the first channel to the communication device) of the first channel according to the power consumption mode of the first channel indicated by the first control information.

[0022] The power consumption mode of the channel can be used to indicate the value of one or more parameters corresponding to the channel in the optical module or the communication unit, and the value of all or part of the parameters indicated by different power consumption modes can be different.

[0023] The communication unit can comprise a plurality of communication sub-units, each of which can be used to perform part of the function of the communication unit. The present application does not limit the power consumption mode of the channel to indicate the parameters of each communication sub-unit in the communication unit, and accordingly, the present application does not limit each communication sub-unit to be directly connected to the hardware pins. When a plurality of communication sub-units are directly connected to the hardware pins respectively, the plurality of communication sub-units can determine the control information according to the control signal respectively. The present application does not limit the specific way in which the communication sub-units determine the control information according to the control signal, and different communication sub-units can use the same or different ways to determine the control information. For example, the combination of the first configuration items of different communication sub-units can be the same or different except that they all include the target configuration item.

[0024] The present application does not limit the form or implementation of each unit and each sub-unit. Optionally, the control unit can be a multipoint control unit (MCU), and the sub-unit can be a chip. The present application does not limit the specific function of the communication unit, nor does it limit the division way of each communication sub-unit. As an example, the plurality of communication sub-units in the communication unit can comprise at least one of an optical digital signal processor (DSP) / clock and data recovery (CDR) circuit, a transimpedance amplifier (TIA), an optical detector, a driver and a laser and other components.

[0025] The first channel and the second channel are different channels of the optical module. The first channel can be a single channel, or include two or more channels. Similarly, the second channel can be a single channel, or include two or more channels. For any one of the first channel and / or the second channel, it can be a transmitting channel (for converting a data electrical signal of the communication device into a data optical signal), or can be a receiving channel (for converting a received data optical signal into a data electrical signal and sending the data electrical signal to the communication device), or can include a transmitting channel and a receiving channel.

[0026] In an example, the first channel can include all transmitting channels of the optical module, and the second channel can include all receiving channels of the optical module, so that the optical module can realize differentiated control of the power consumption modes of the transmitting direction and the receiving direction according to the first control information and the second control information.

[0027] The present application does not limit the number of power consumption modes supported by the channel. For example, a single channel can support two power consumption modes, i.e. a high power consumption mode and a low power consumption mode, respectively corresponding to a higher and a lower power consumption, and the first power consumption mode and the second power consumption mode can be the high power consumption mode and the low power consumption mode, respectively, or the low power consumption mode and the high power consumption mode, respectively. Alternatively, a single channel can support three or more power consumption modes, different power consumption modes corresponding to different power consumptions, and the first power consumption mode and the second power consumption mode can be any two different power consumption modes among the three or more power consumption modes.

[0028] Optionally, after the optical module controls the power consumption mode according to the control information, it can send response information to the communication device, the response information being used to indicate a control result of the power consumption mode of the first channel. The control result can indicate a successful configuration of the power consumption mode or a failed configuration of the power consumption mode, or a success or a failure of the response.

[0029] Optionally, the optical module can define a register, a value of the register being used to declare whether the optical module supports channel-level power consumption mode control (or channel-level low power consumption control).

[0030] In a second aspect, the present application provides an optical module, which can be a multi-channel optical module and can have multiple channels. The optical module includes: a receiving unit, configured to receive control information from the communication device, the control information including first control information, the first control information being used to control a power consumption mode of a first channel among the multiple channels; and a mode control unit, configured to control the power consumption mode of the first channel according to the first control information.

[0031] Optionally, the optical module can further include a sending unit, configured to send response information to the communication device.

[0032] The control information, the manner of sending the control information by the communication device and receiving the control information by the optical module, the first control information, the first channel, the power consumption mode of the first channel, the response information and the content of controlling the power consumption mode can be understood in the manner of the first aspect, and will not be described here.

[0033] As described above, the optical module can include the communication unit and the control unit.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the receiving unit and the mode control unit can be installed or deployed in the control unit. After receiving the first control information, the mode control unit can configure the power consumption mode of the first channel by sending a signal (referred to as a configuration signal) to the communication unit. The communication unit can perform data processing in the sending direction and / or data processing in the receiving direction of the signal of the first channel according to the power consumption mode indicated by the first control information under the control of the configuration signal. The present application does not limit the type of the configuration signal. For example, the configuration signal can be a bus signal or a hardware input signal.

[0035] In a possible implementation, the receiving unit and the mode control unit can be installed or deployed in the communication unit. The communication unit receives the first control information and configures the power consumption mode of the first channel according to the first control information. The communication unit performs data processing in the sending direction and / or data processing in the receiving direction of the signal of the first channel according to the power consumption mode indicated by the first control information. When the communication unit includes a plurality of communication sub-units, the receiving unit and the mode control unit can be respectively deployed in one or more communication sub-units.

[0036] In a possible implementation, the receiving unit and the mode control unit can be installed or deployed in the control unit and the communication unit. For example, the control unit receives the control signal described above, and sends a configuration signal to the communication unit according to the control signal. After receiving the configuration signal, the communication unit determines the first control information according to the configuration signal. Then, the communication unit configures the power consumption mode of the first channel according to the first control information, and performs data processing in the sending direction and / or data processing in the receiving direction of the signal of the first channel according to the power consumption mode indicated by the first control information.

[0037] The present application does not limit the form or implementation of the receiving unit and the mode control unit. For example, the receiving unit and / or the mode control unit can be implemented in the manner of software or hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0038] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which is configured to connect an optical module having a plurality of channels. The communication device comprises: a sending unit configured to send control information to the optical module, the control information comprising first control information, the first control information being configured to control a power consumption mode of a first channel of the plurality of channels; and a receiving unit configured to receive response information from the optical module, the response information being configured to indicate a control result of the power consumption mode of the first channel.

[0039] The control information, the manner in which the communication device sends the control information and the optical module receives the control information, the first control information, the first channel, the power consumption mode of the first channel, the response information and the content of controlling the power consumption mode can be understood with reference to the related content of the first aspect, and will not be described herein.

[0040] The present application does not limit the type of the communication device. For example, the communication device can be a host or a module installed in the host. The host can be a communication device configured to transmit data with other devices, and the host can carry data on an optical link by installing the optical module. For example, the host or the host installed with the optical module can be an optical line terminal (OLT), an optical network unit (ONU), a router, a switch, a server, an OTN transmission device, a computer device, etc.

[0041] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a method applied to a system, the system comprising a communication device and an optical module, the optical module having a plurality of channels, the method comprising: the communication device sending control information to the optical module, the control information comprising first control information, the first control information being configured to control a power consumption mode of a first channel of the plurality of channels; and the optical module receiving the control information and controlling the power consumption mode of the first channel according to the first control information.

[0042] The method further comprises: the optical module sending response information to the communication device.

[0043] The control information, the manner in which the communication device sends the control information and the optical module receives the control information, the first control information, the first channel, the power consumption mode of the first channel, the response information and the content of controlling the power consumption mode can be understood with reference to the related content of the first aspect, and will not be described herein.

[0044] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a method applied to an optical module having a plurality of channels, the method comprising: receiving control information from a communication device, the control information comprising first control information for controlling a power consumption mode of a first channel of the plurality of channels; and controlling the power consumption mode of the first channel according to the first control information.

[0045] The method further comprises: sending, by the optical module, response information to the communication device.

[0046] The control information, the manner in which the optical module receives the control information, the first control information, the first channel, the power consumption mode of the first channel, the response information, and the content of controlling the power consumption mode can be understood with reference to the related content of the first aspect, and will not be described herein.

[0047] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a method applied to a communication device for connecting an optical module having a plurality of channels, the method comprising: sending control information to the optical module, the control information comprising first control information for controlling a power consumption mode of a first channel of the plurality of channels; and receiving response information from the optical module, the response information indicating a control result of the power consumption mode of the first channel.

[0048] The method further comprises: receiving, by the communication device, the response information sent by the optical module.

[0049] The control information, the manner in which the communication device sends the control information, the first control information, the first channel, the power consumption mode of the first channel, the response information, and the content of controlling the power consumption mode can be understood with reference to the related content of the first aspect, and will not be described herein.

[0050] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides an optical network, which can comprise one or more systems, at least one of the one or more systems being a system as described in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, and different systems of the one or more systems being connected through an optical interconnection network.

[0051] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer device, cause the computer device to perform the method performed by any of the aforementioned devices, for example, the method of the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect.

[0052] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product which, when executed on a computer device, causes the computer device to perform the method performed by any of the aforementioned devices, for example, the method of the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect.

[0053] Since the devices and methods provided by the examples of the present application can be used to perform the functions of the corresponding devices in the system shown in the first aspect, the technical effects that can be achieved by the examples of the devices and methods of the present application can refer to the technical effects achieved by the examples of the first aspect, which will not be described here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0054] Figure 1 schematically shows one possible structure of an optical network;

[0055] Figure 2 schematically shows another possible structure of an optical network;

[0056] Figures 3-1 and 3-2 respectively schematically show one possible structure of the system provided by the present application;

[0057] Figure 4 schematically shows a method flow provided by the present application;

[0058] Figure 5 schematically shows a possible flow of the optical module control method based on the truth table shown in Table 2;

[0059] Figure 6-1 schematically shows a possible flow of the optical module control method based on the truth table shown in Table 3;

[0060] Figure 6-2 schematically shows a possible flow of the optical module control method based on the truth table shown in Table 4;

[0061] Figure 7-1 schematically shows another possible structure of the system provided by the present application;

[0062] Figure 7-2 schematically shows a possible flow of the optical module control method based on the structure shown in Figure 6 and the truth table shown in Table 4;

[0063] Figure 8-1 shows another possible structure of the system provided by the present application;

[0064] Figure 8-2 schematically shows a possible flow of the optical module control method based on the structure shown in Figure 8-1 and the truth table shown in Table 4;

[0065] Figure 9 schematically shows a possible structure of the communication device provided by the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0066] The solution of the present application can be applied to an optical network. The optical network has the advantages of high switching speed, low optical power loss, low latency, low cost, and no wavelength competition. The optical network can be applied to a data center network (DCN), a metropolitan area network, a passive optical network (PON), an optical transport network (OTN), etc., and the specific application is not limited. FIG. 1 schematically shows a possible structure of an optical network. Referring to FIG. 1, the optical network includes, but is not limited to, optical communication devices 101, 102, 103, and an optical interconnection network 104, and the optical interconnection network 104 can be used to transmit optical signals between different optical communication devices. The optical network can include more or fewer optical communication devices.

[0067] The devices or networks represented by different rectangular boxes in FIG. 1 can be deployed in different or same geographical locations, for example, the optical network can be deployed in a single cabinet or multiple cabinets of a data center. FIG. 2 schematically shows a possible deployment of an optical network. Referring to FIG. 2, the optical network can be located in a cabinet 100 of a data center, and the cabinet 100 is used to fix the optical communication devices and the optical interconnection network.

[0068] The optical interconnection network can include one or more optical links (such as optical fibers). Optionally, the optical interconnection network can also include one or more optical switching devices, which are used to switch optical signals.

[0069] The present application does not limit the type of optical communication device, for example, the optical communication device can be an optical line terminal (OLT) or an optical network unit (ONU) or a router or a switch or a server or an OTN transmission device or a computer device, etc.

[0070] The present application provides a system, which can be the optical communication device shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 or can be deployed in the optical communication device shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2. FIG. 3-1 schematically shows a possible structure of the system. As shown in FIG. 3-1, the system can include a host and an optical module connected to the host. As shown in FIG. 3-1, the optical module includes a PCB and an electrical connector, a communication unit, and a control unit mounted on the PCB.

[0071] The communication unit connects to the host through a subset of the pins of the electrical connector, referred to as data pins. The optical module can be a multi-lane optical module. The present application does not limit the type of data that the multiple lanes of the optical module are configured to transmit, for example, the data transmitted by the multiple lanes can include in-band data and / or out-of-band data, or can include user-plane data and / or control-plane data. The communication unit can transmit data electrical signals between the data pins and the host for the multiple lanes, the data electrical signals being configured to carry the data transmitted by the lanes. FIG. 3-1 represents a single lane of data electrical signals with a single solid line having a single directional arrow, and a single lane of data optical signals with a single dashed line having a single directional arrow. As shown in FIG. 3-1, the optical module has four transmit lanes (referred to as Tx lanes) and four receive lanes (referred to as Rx lanes). The communication unit can receive the data electrical signals (referred to as electrical signals) for the four Tx lanes from the host through transmit pins (referred to as Tx pins) of the data pins, and then convert the electrical signals for the four Tx lanes to optical signals (referred to as optical signals) for the four Tx lanes. The communication unit can receive the optical signals for the four Rx lanes from the host, and then convert the optical signals for the four Rx lanes to electrical signals for the four Rx lanes, and then transmit the electrical signals for the four Rx lanes to the host through receive pins (referred to as Rx pins) of the data pins. FIG. 3-1 uses the example of the optical module having four Tx lanes and four Rx lanes, but the present application does not limit the number of Tx lanes that the optical module has, nor the number of Rx lanes that the optical module has. In some examples, the optical module can be a single-receive or single-transmit optical module, and accordingly, the optical module has multiple Rx lanes or multiple Tx lanes.

[0072] The control unit connects to the host through a subset of the pins of the electrical connector, referred to as control pins. The control unit can receive control electrical signals (referred to as control signals) from the host through the control pins, and / or transmit response signals (or reply signals) to the host through the control pins. FIG. 3-1 represents the signals transmitted through the control pins with a white-filled arrow shape. The present application does not limit the type of control pins or the type of signals transmitted through the control pins. FIG. 3-1 represents hardware input signals with a white-filled single directional arrow, and bus signals with a white-filled bidirectional arrow. As shown in FIG. 3-1, the control pins can include pins for transmitting hardware input signals (referred to as hardware pins), and pins for transmitting bus signals (referred to as bus pins). The hardware pins can connect to hardware pins of the host for receiving hardware input signals from the host. The bus pins can connect to a bus interface of the host for receiving bus signals from the host. The present application does not limit the type of bus, for example, the bus can be an I2C bus. The present application does not limit the type of control pins, for example, the control pins can include only bus pins or hardware pins, or the control pins can include other types of pins.

[0073] The control unit is connected to the communication unit. The control unit can send a configuration signal to the communication unit to configure one or more parameters of the communication unit. In some examples, the control unit can send the configuration signal to the communication unit according to the control signal. Optionally, the communication unit can also send a signal to the control unit. Figure 3-1 represents the signal transmitted between the control unit and the communication unit with a thick arrowed solid line.

[0074] Figure 3-2 schematically shows another structure of the system provided by the present application. Compared with the structure shown in Figure 3-1, the system shown in Figure 3-2 takes the electrical connector as a gold finger, takes the control unit as a multipoint control unit (MCU), and takes the communication unit as including multiple communication sub-units, which are respectively optical digital signal processor (DSP) / clock and data recovery (CDR) circuit, transimpedance amplifier (TIA), optical detector, driver and laser and other components. In actual applications, the electrical connector can use other connectors other than the gold finger, the control unit can be other types of controllers, the communication unit can include more or fewer communication sub-units than those shown in Figure 3-2, at least one of the communication sub-units shown in Figure 3-2 can be replaced by other types of communication sub-units as needed, and the multiple communication sub-units can be integrated on the same chip as needed.

[0075] The present application does not limit the number of channels supported by the optical module, for example, the optical module can be 1-channel / 2-channel / 4-channel / 8-channel / 16-channel and other channel forms. The present application does not limit the structure and appearance of the optical module, for example, the structure and appearance of the optical module can be QSFP (4-channel), QSFP-DD / OSFP (8-channel), OSFP-XD (16-channel) or COBO, etc.

[0076] Different packaged optical modules have corresponding software and hardware protocols to guide compatible design by various manufacturers. For multi-channel QSFP / OSFP / QSFP-DD packaged optical modules, the common management interface specification (CMIS) defines a software management interface, combined with the corresponding module hardware multi-source agreement (MSA), to manage the power consumption mode of the optical module. The host can send a control signal to the optical module to control the power consumption mode of the optical module.

[0077] The optical module can support at least two power consumption modes, different power consumption modes are associated with different configuration schemes of the optical module or the communication unit, or in other words, different power consumption modes are used to indicate different configuration schemes of the optical module, and the power consumption of the optical module under different configuration schemes is different. Therefore, the host can change the power consumption mode of the optical module by sending a control signal, and the power consumption of the optical module can be changed.

[0078] As introduced in CMIS, the host can send a low power transition signal to the optical module, and the value of the low power transition signal is 0, which is used to indicate that all channels of the optical module are in a high power mode, and the value is 1, which is used to indicate that all channels of the optical module are in a low power mode. And the optical module has three configuration items, which are a forced low power register (ForceLowPwr) and a low power register (LowPwr) and a low power mode (LPMode) hardware pin, the host can send a configuration signal of the forced low power register and / or the low power register to the control unit through the bus pin, and send a configuration signal of the low power mode hardware pin to the control unit through the hardware pin, and the configuration signal is used to indicate the value of the corresponding configuration item or to indicate the change of the value of the corresponding configuration item. In the application file, the forced low power register can also be referred to as a global ForceLowPwr, and the low power register can also be referred to as a global LowPwr register. The host can send or transfer a low power transition signal to the optical module by configuring at least one of the three configuration items. The optical module can use the truth table shown in Table 1 to determine the low power transition signal indicated by the value combination of the three configuration items.

[0079] Table 1 shows a truth table of a low power transition signal. As shown in Table 1, the multiple configuration items of the optical module include a forced low power register, a low power register, and a low power mode hardware pin. Each row in Table 1 corresponds to a value combination of the three configuration items, and different rows correspond to different value combinations. The values in the first three columns of a row represent the values of the corresponding value combination, wherein "1" represents the value of the corresponding configuration item is 1, "0" represents the value of the corresponding configuration item is 0, and "X" represents the value of the corresponding configuration item is 1 or 0. The last column represents the control information indicated by the corresponding value combination, wherein "1" represents the value of the low power transition signal of the module is 1, and "0" represents the value of the low power transition signal of the module is 0. Since any control information determined according to Table 1 is used to describe the value of the low power transition signal of the module, the truth table shown in Table 1 can also be referred to as a low power transition signal truth table.

[0080] Table 1

[0081] The application does not limit the trigger condition for the host to change the power mode of the optical module. For example, the host can deliver a low-power transition signal with a value of 1 to the optical module when the traffic is less than a certain traffic threshold (referred to as a first traffic threshold), to control the optical module to set all channels to a low-power mode, so as to reduce the power consumption of the optical module. When the traffic of the host is greater than the first traffic threshold, the host can deliver a low-power transition signal with a value of 0 to the optical module, to control the optical module to set all channels to a high-power mode, so as to guarantee the communication rate of the optical module.

[0082] However, when all channels of the optical module are in the high-power mode, the maximum traffic that the optical module can support to process is generally much greater than the first traffic threshold. When the traffic is greater than the first traffic threshold and less than a second traffic threshold, the host controlling all channels of the optical module to be in the high-power mode will cause waste of the processing capability of the optical module and increase the power consumption of the optical module.

[0083] Therefore, the application proposes that the host can send control information for controlling the power mode of a part of channels (referred to as channel i) of the optical module to the optical module. The optical module can control the power mode of channel i according to the control information, so as to facilitate the host to change the power of the optical module with a smaller granularity. In this way, it is not only beneficial to meet the traffic demand of the host, but also beneficial to save the processing capability of the optical module and reduce the power consumption of the optical module.

[0084] FIG. 4 schematically shows a control method of an optical module provided by the application. As shown in FIG. 4, the method can include S401-S403.

[0085] S401, the host sends control information to the optical module, and correspondingly, the optical module receives the control information sent by the host;

[0086] The control information can include channel control information i, which is used to control the power mode of channel i of the optical module. For example, the channel control information i is used to indicate that the power mode of channel i is the second power mode. Or, assuming that the power mode of channel i is the first power mode before the optical module receives the channel control information i, the channel control information i can be used to instruct the optical module to switch the power mode of channel i from the first power mode to the second power mode.

[0087] As shown in FIG. 4, optionally, the host can send the channel control information i to the control unit in the optical module, and correspondingly, the control unit can receive the channel control information i. The sending unit in the communication device introduced in the foregoing can be used to perform the action performed by the host in S401, and the receiving unit in the optical module can be used to perform the action performed by the optical module in S401.

[0088] S402, the optical module controls the power mode of channel i according to the channel control information i;

[0089] After the optical module obtains the channel control information i, the optical module can control the power consumption mode of the channel i according to the channel control information i. For example, the optical module can set the power consumption mode of the channel i to the second power consumption mode according to the channel control information i, or control the power consumption mode of the channel i to change from the first power consumption mode to the second power consumption mode.

[0090] The power consumption corresponding to the second power consumption mode can be greater than the power consumption corresponding to the first power consumption mode. Accordingly, after the optical module controls the power consumption mode of the channel i according to the channel control information i, it is beneficial to improve the data transmission capability of the channel i, and thus it is beneficial to improve the performance of the optical module, for example, to increase the data traffic transmitted by the optical module, in the case of improving the power consumption of the optical module with a small granularity.

[0091] The power consumption corresponding to the second power consumption mode can be less than the power consumption corresponding to the first power consumption mode. Accordingly, after the optical module controls the power consumption mode of the channel i according to the channel control information i, it is beneficial to reduce the power consumption of the channel i, and thus it is beneficial to reduce the power consumption of the optical module with a small granularity while meeting the demand for small performance improvement.

[0092] As shown in FIG. 4, optionally, the control unit can control the power consumption mode of the channel i according to the channel control information i, for example, control the communication unit to change the power consumption mode of the channel i from the first power consumption mode to the second power consumption mode. The module control unit in the optical module introduced in the foregoing can be used to perform the actions performed by the optical module in S402.

[0093] The present application will refer to the configuration scheme indicated by the first power consumption mode as the first configuration scheme, and refer to the configuration scheme indicated by the second power consumption mode as the second configuration scheme. After the control unit controls the power consumption mode of the channel i according to the channel control information i, the communication unit can transmit the data of the channel i according to the second configuration scheme.

[0094] Assuming that the four solid lines pointing to the communication unit in FIG. 3-1 represent Tx Channel 1-Tx Channel 4 from top to bottom, the four solid lines pointing to the host in FIG. 3-1 represent Rx Channel 1-Rx Channel 4 from top to bottom, and Channel i includes Tx Channel 2 and Rx Channel 2. As an example, before S402, the communication unit can transmit data of each channel according to the first configuration scheme, can convert the four Tx Channel electrical signals sent by the host into four Tx Channel optical signals as shown in FIG. 3-1, and convert the four Rx Channel optical signals received into four Rx Channel electrical signals and send to the host. After S402, the communication unit can transmit data of Channel 2 according to the second configuration scheme, and transmit data of other channels according to the first configuration scheme, as shown in FIG. 4, after receiving the four Tx Channel electrical signals from the host, only convert the electrical signals of Tx Channel 1, Tx Channel 3 and Tx Channel 4 into optical signals of the three Tx Channels respectively, do not convert the electrical signal of Tx Channel 2 into an optical signal, and only convert the received optical signals of Rx Channel 1, Rx Channel 3 and Rx Channel 4 into electrical signals of the three Rx Channels respectively and send to the host, and do not send the electrical signal of Rx Channel 2 to the host.

[0095] As an example, FIG. 4 does not limit that when the power consumption mode of Channel i is the lower power consumption mode, the optical module cannot transmit data of Channel i. In some examples, when the power consumption mode of Channel i is the lower power consumption mode, the optical module can continue to transmit data of Channel i, but the performance of the optical module transmitting data of Channel i may be reduced compared to when the power consumption mode of Channel i is the higher power consumption mode.

[0096] This application does not limit the number of channels in Channel i, Channel i can include one or more channels, as long as the number of channels in Channel i is less than or not greater than the number of all channels in the optical module. When Channel i includes multiple channels, the power consumption mode of Channel i being the second power consumption mode can mean that all channels in Channel i are in the second power consumption mode. This application does not limit the relative positional relationship between the multiple channels in Channel i, such as the serial number or position of the multiple channels can be adjacent or not adjacent.

[0097] When the optical module supports bidirectional data transmission, as shown in FIG. 4, Channel i can include Tx Channel i and Rx Channel i. Alternatively, in some examples, Channel i can be Tx Channel i or Rx Channel i, thereby facilitating more flexible adjustment of the power consumption and performance of the optical module in smaller granularity.

[0098] In some examples, Channel i can include all Tx channels of the optical module, or include all Rx channels of the optical module, thereby facilitating separate control of Tx channels and Rx channels and realizing differentiated control of the power consumption mode in the uplink and downlink directions of the optical module.

[0099] S403, the optical module sends response information to the host, and correspondingly, the host receives the response information sent by the optical module;

[0100] After the optical module controls the power consumption mode of the channel i according to the channel control information i, the optical module can send response information to the host to inform the host of the control result of the power consumption mode of the channel i. Correspondingly, the host can receive the response information sent by the optical module to determine the control result of the power consumption mode of the channel i by the optical module. For example, the control result can indicate success or failure.

[0101] The receiving unit in the communication device introduced in the foregoing can be configured to perform the action performed by the host in S403, and the sending unit in the optical module can be configured to perform the action performed by the optical module in S403.

[0102] The optical module can control the power consumption mode of the channel i according to the channel control information i, thereby facilitating the host to change the power consumption of the optical module in a smaller granularity. For example, when the traffic increases from below the first traffic threshold to greater than the first traffic threshold and less than the second traffic threshold, the host can control the channel i to switch from the low-power consumption mode to the high-power consumption mode, while other channels remain in the low-power consumption mode. Or, for example, when the traffic decreases from above the second traffic threshold to less than the second traffic threshold and greater than the first traffic threshold, the host can control the channel i to switch from the high-power consumption mode to the low-power consumption mode, while other channels remain in the high-power consumption mode. In this way, not only is it beneficial to meet the traffic demand of the host, but also it is beneficial to save the processing capacity of the optical module and reduce the power consumption of the optical module.

[0103] In some examples, the channel control information i can indicate the value of the low-power consumption transition signal of the channel i. The value of the low-power consumption transition signal of the channel i is used to control the power consumption mode of the channel i, for example, to control the low-power consumption mode of the channel i to take effect (i.e., enter the low-power consumption mode) or not to take effect (e.g., enter the high-power consumption mode).

[0104] In order to distinguish, hereinafter, the low-power consumption transition signal mentioned in the foregoing for controlling the power consumption mode of all channels is referred to as a module low-power consumption transition signal, and the low-power consumption transition signal proposed in the present application for controlling the power consumption mode of the channel is referred to as a channel low-power consumption transition signal.

[0105] The present application does not limit the number of power consumption modes supported by the channel i, nor the number of possible values of the channel low-power consumption transition signal. Hereinafter, an example is taken in which the channel i supports two power consumption modes, which are the high-power consumption mode and the low-power consumption mode, respectively, and the possible values of the channel low-power consumption transition signal are 0 and 1.

[0106] As an example, the value of the lane low power transition signal of lane i is 0 for indicating that the power mode of lane i is high power mode, and the value of the lane low power transition signal of lane i is 1 for indicating that the power mode of lane i is low power mode.

[0107] The present application does not limit the way that the host sends the lane control information i to the optical module. For example, the optical module can have a plurality of configuration items (referred to as configuration item combination i) for controlling the power mode of lane i or for determining the value of the lane low power transition signal of lane i, and the value of the configuration item combination i supports the host configuration. The value of the configuration item combination i or the value of each configuration item in the configuration item combination i is used to indicate or determine the value of the lane low power transition signal of lane i. The host can send or transmit the value of the lane low power transition signal of lane i to the optical module by sending a control signal to the optical module to configure the value of at least one configuration item (referred to as target configuration item) in the configuration item combination i, i.e., to send the lane control information i.

[0108] Optionally, the lane control information i also indicates that the value of the lane low power transition signal of lane i changes, and accordingly, the lane control information i can be used to change the power mode of lane i. The host can change the value of the configuration item combination i by sending a control signal to the optical module to modify the value of the target configuration item, and then change the value of the lane low power transition signal of lane i.

[0109] The present application does not limit the way that the optical module determines the value of the lane low power transition signal indicated by the value of the configuration item combination i. For example, the optical module can use a truth table or a formula to determine the way of determining the value of the lane low power transition signal indicated by the value of the configuration item combination i. The value of the configuration item combination i can be the value combination of the configuration item combination i, i.e., including the value of each item in the configuration item combination i.

[0110] In order to realize the individual control of the power mode of lane i, the present application proposes that the configuration item combination i includes at least one configuration item of lane i, and the value of the configuration item of lane i is used to control the power mode of lane i, and is not used to control the power mode of other lanes.

[0111] The present application does not limit the type of the configuration item of lane i. For example, the configuration item of lane i can include at least one of a register and a hardware pin. The host can configure the protocol register and / or the hardware pin related to power or power mode, and the optical module can obtain the configuration state of each configuration item to realize the power mode control of the optical module.

[0112] The hardware pin of the optical module can be connected to the hardware pin of the host. The hardware pin of the optical module can be one or more pins (PIN) of the optical module gold finger. As introduced above, the control unit can receive the hardware input signal sent by the host through the hardware pin in the electrical connector, and correspondingly, the control unit can be connected to the hardware pin, and the software in the control unit can perceive the state change of the hardware pin in the form of interruption or short-period polling, triggering the fast switching of the power consumption mode of the optical module or the channel.

[0113] When the target configuration item is a hardware pin, the channel control signal i can be a hardware input signal received through the hardware pin, and the optical module can determine or configure the value of the target configuration item according to the hardware input signal. The present application does not limit the number of symbols that the hardware input signal can represent, nor the type of the hardware input signal. For example, the signal can include at least one of current, voltage, resistance, inductance and capacitance, etc. The symbol change of the hardware pin can be triggered by level, or by rising and falling edge. For example, when the level of the hardware pin is switched from low level (denoted as VIL) to high level (VIH), it can be considered that the value of the pin is switched from 0 to 1, and vice versa, when the level of the pin is switched from VIH to VIL, it can be considered that the value of the pin is switched from 1 to 0. The present application does not limit the values corresponding to the low level and the high level, and the present application takes VIL and VIH corresponding to 0 and 1 as an example.

[0114] The present application does not limit the number of bits of the register. For example, the number of bits of the register can be 1 bit or bit respectively, and correspondingly, the value of the register can be 0 or 1. Alternatively, the configuration item of the channel i can be a part of the bit field of the register, for example, a bit field of the register, and correspondingly, the value of the configuration item is stored in the bit field of the register.

[0115] When the target configuration item is a register or a part of the bit field in the register, the channel control signal i can be used to configure the value of the corresponding register or bit field, and the optical module can correspondingly configure the value of the register or bit field.

[0116] Table 1 introduces three configuration items for controlling the power consumption mode of all channels, which are the forced low-power register, the low-power register and the low-power mode hardware pin. In order to distinguish, the forced low-power register and the low-power register introduced above will be called the forced module low-power register and the module low-power register hereinafter.

[0117] Alternatively, the configuration item combination i can also include one or more configuration items (referred to as global configuration items) for controlling the power consumption mode of all channels. The present application does not limit the number and type of global configuration items in the configuration item combination i. In contrast, the configuration item of the channel i proposed by the present application can also be referred to as the channel configuration item of the channel i.

[0118] Next, taking an example of configuration item combination i including three global configuration items (mandatory module low power register, module low power register and low power mode hardware pin), the configuration items of channel i are introduced respectively.

[0119] Example 1, configuration item combination i includes one configuration item of channel i, and the configuration item is channel low power register (or channel LowPwr register).

[0120] Taking an example of multiple configuration items including mandatory module low power register, module low power register, low power mode hardware pin and channel low power register of channel i, Table 2 schematically shows an example of low power transition signal truth table proposed in the present application. Each row in Table 2 corresponds to a value combination of the four configuration items, and different rows correspond to different value combinations. The values in the first four columns in a single row represent the values of the corresponding configuration items, wherein "1" represents the value of the corresponding configuration item is 1, "0" represents the value of the corresponding configuration item is 0, and "X" represents the value of the corresponding configuration item is 1 or 0. The last three columns represent the control information or power consumption state indication indicated by the corresponding value combination, wherein the value in the third last column represents the value of the module low power transition signal, "0" represents that the entire optical module (i.e. all channels) enters high power consumption, "1" represents that the entire optical module enters low power consumption, and "-" indicates that the optical module does not obtain the module low power transition signal or indicates that the operation of controlling the power consumption mode of the entire optical module is not performed. The value in the second last column represents the value of channel low power transition signal 1, and the value in the last column represents the value of channel low power transition signal 2, "0" represents that channel i enters high power consumption, "1" represents that channel i enters low power consumption, and "-" indicates that the optical module does not obtain the channel low power transition signal of channel i or indicates that the operation of individually controlling the power consumption mode of channel i is not performed. The channel low power transition signal of channel i can be channel low power transition signal 1 or channel low power transition signal 2. Therefore, when the host configures the values of the target configuration items, if the value combination of configuration item combination i is any of the last four rows in Table 2, the optical module can determine the value of the channel low power transition signal of channel i, and it can be considered that the host sends channel control information i to the optical module.

[0121] Since the low power transition signal determined according to Table 2 includes the module low power transition signal and the channel low power transition signal, the truth table shown in Table 2 can also be called an extended low power transition signal truth table.

[0122] Table 2

[0123] Next, the determination rule of the low power transition signal defined in Table 2 is introduced in words.

[0124] When the logical OR of the forced module low power register and the module low power register is 1, the channel low power register is not effective, and the power transition signal only controls the whole optical module; when the forced module low power register and the module low power register are both 0, the power transition signal controls the channel level, and the channel low power transition signal is the logical operation result of the channel low power register and the low power mode hardware pin.

[0125] Module low power transition signal: if (forced module low power register OR module low power register == 1), low power transition signal = forced module low power register OR (module low power register AND low power mode hardware pin)

[0126] Module low power state indication: when all channels are in low power, indicate module low power state 1, and indicate high power state 0 in other states.

[0127] Channel low power transition signal mode 1: when the logical AND of the forced module low power register and the module low power register is 0, the channel low power transition signal = low power mode hardware pin AND channel low power register

[0128] Channel low power transition signal mode 2: when the logical AND of the forced module low power register and the module low power register is 0, the channel low power transition signal = low power mode hardware pin OR channel low power register.

[0129] Channel low power state indication: indicate state 1 when the corresponding channel is in low power, and indicate high power state 0 when the corresponding channel is in high power.

[0130] Wherein, "OR" represents logical AND, and "AND" represents logical OR.

[0131] The value combination of the multiple configuration items in the truth table shown in Table 1 can only indicate the value of the module low power transition signal, and the value combination of the multiple configuration items in the truth table shown in Table 2 can also indicate the value of the channel low power transition signal of channel i, so as to facilitate the host to send channel control information i to the optical module by changing the value of the target configuration item, and then change the power mode of channel i.

[0132] As an example, assuming that the lane low power transition signal of lane i is lane low power transition signal 1 shown in Table 2, before the optical module receives the lane control information i, the value combination of the plurality of configuration items of the optical module is shown in the second last row of Table 2, that is, the value of the Force Module LowPwr register is 0, the value of the Module LowPwr register is 0, the value of the LowPwr Mode hardware pin is 0, and the value of the Lane LowPwr register is 1, so the optical module is in the high power mode before receiving the lane control information i. Then, the host can change the value combination of the plurality of configuration items of the optical module to the fourth last row of Table 2 by changing the value of the LowPwr Mode hardware pin to 1, thereby delivering the lane control information i that the value of the lane low power transition signal of lane i is 1 to the optical module, and the optical module can configure the power mode of lane i according to the received lane control information i to be in the low power mode, thereby realizing the switching of the power mode of lane i by the host.

[0133] As shown in FIG. 3-1, the control unit of the optical module and the host can be connected through a hardware pin and a bus pin, and the hardware pin can be a LowPwr Mode hardware pin. Optionally, the LowPwr Mode hardware pin in Table 2 can be multiplexed with the LowPwr Mode hardware pin of the QSFP-DD MSA protocol, and the control unit of the optical module and the host can be connected through the hardware pin of the optical module gold finger to realize the switching of the high and low power modes of the lane level.

[0134] Based on the truth table shown in Table 2, a possible flow step of the control method (or low power control state machine) of the optical module can be shown in FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 5, the host can configure the global Force LowPwr register, the global LowPwr register, and the lane i Lane LowPwr register of the optical module. The optical module can determine whether the value of the global Force LowPwr register is 1, if yes, the entire optical module enters the low power mode, if not, it determines whether the value of the global LowPwr is 1. If the value of the global LowPwr is 1, the optical module can detect the state of the hardware LPMODE pin (i.e., the value of the hardware input signal received through the pin). When the state of the hardware LPMODE pin is 1, the entire optical module can enter the low power mode, and when the state of the hardware LPMODE pin is 0, the entire optical module can enter the high power mode. If the value of the global LowPwr is not 1, the MCU can respectively acquire the value of the lane i Lane LowPwr register and the state of the LPMODE pin, and determine the power mode of lane i according to the value of the lane i Lane LowPwr register and the logic state of the LPMODE pin.

[0135] Compared with the prior art, the channel low-power consumption register is designed, part of the channels enters the low-power consumption mode, and the rest of the channels still works normally, so that the other channels of the module can still work in the abnormal state of part of the channels. Or the host can actively close part of the channels through the channel low-power consumption register without affecting the work of the other channels of the module, so that more flexible channel data configuration can be made according to the host or network traffic demand, and the energy saving purpose is achieved.

[0136] In example two, the configuration item combination i includes one configuration item of the channel i, and the configuration item is the channel low-power consumption mask register.

[0137] Taking the four configuration items including the forced module low-power consumption register, the module low-power consumption register, the low-power consumption mode hardware pin and the channel low-power consumption mask register of the channel i as examples, Table 3 schematically shows another example of the low-power consumption transition signal truth table proposed in the application. Each row in Table 3 corresponds to a value combination of the four configuration items, and different rows correspond to different value combinations. The values in the first four columns in a row represent the values of the corresponding configuration items, wherein “1” represents that the value of the corresponding configuration item is 1, “0” represents that the value of the corresponding configuration item is 0, and “X” represents that the value of the corresponding configuration item is 1 or 0. The last two columns represent the control information or the power consumption state indication indicated by the corresponding value combination, wherein the value in the penultimate column represents the value of the module low-power consumption transition signal, “0” represents that the entire optical module (i.e. all channels) enters the high-power consumption, “1” represents that the entire optical module enters the low-power consumption, and “-” indicates that the optical module does not obtain the module low-power consumption transition signal or indicates that the operation of controlling the power consumption mode of the entire optical module is not performed. The value in the last column represents the value of the channel low-power consumption transition signal of the channel i, “0” represents that the channel i enters the high-power consumption, “1” represents that the channel i enters the low-power consumption, and “-” indicates that the optical module does not obtain the channel low-power consumption transition signal of the channel i or indicates that the operation of controlling the power consumption mode of the channel i is not performed. Therefore, when the host configures the values of the target configuration items, the value combination of the configuration item combination i is as any one of the last three rows in Table 3, the optical module can determine the value of the channel low-power consumption transition signal of the channel i, and it can be considered that the host sends the channel control information i to the optical module.

[0138] Since the low-power consumption transition signal determined according to Table 3 includes the module low-power consumption transition signal and the channel low-power consumption transition signal, the truth table shown in Table 3 can also be called an extended low-power consumption transition signal truth table.

[0139] Table 3

[0140] The determination rule of the low-power consumption transition signal defined in Table 2 is described in words as follows.

[0141] Module low power transition signal: If (force module low power register OR module low power register == 1), low power transition signal = force module low power register OR (module low power register AND low power mode hardware pin)

[0142] Module low power status indication: indicates module low power status 1 when all channels are in low power, and indicates high power status 0 in other states.

[0143] Channel low power transition signal: 1, if (force module low power register AND module low power register == 0 AND channel low power mask register == 1), channel low power transition signal = low power mode hardware pin; 2, if (force module low power register AND module low power register == 0 AND channel low power mask register == 0), channel low power transition signal = force module low power register AND module low power register, regardless of low power hardware pin.

[0144] Channel low power status indication: indicates status 1 when the corresponding channel is in low power, and indicates high power status 0 when the corresponding channel is in high power.

[0145] Wherein, "OR" represents logical and, and "AND" represents logical or.

[0146] As shown in Table 3, the channel low power mask register only takes effect when the force module low power register and the module low power register are both 0. When the register takes effect, Table 3 takes bit 0 of the low power mask register as representing shielding of the low power mode hardware pin control, to obtain a determined power status 0; other values (such as 1) can also be used to represent shielding of the low power mode hardware pin control.

[0147] The value combination of multiple configuration items in the truth table shown in Table 3 can also indicate the control information of channel i, in addition to indicating that the control information of the module is different from the value combination of multiple configuration items in the truth table shown in Table 1, thereby facilitating the host to change the power mode of channel i by changing the value of the target configuration item.

[0148] As an example, before the optical module receives the channel control information i, the value combination of the multiple configuration items of the optical module is as shown in the second last row of Table 3, that is, the value of the forced module low power consumption register is 0, the value of the module low power consumption register is 0, the value of the channel low power consumption mask register is 1, and the value of the low power consumption mode hardware pin is 0. Therefore, before the optical module receives the channel control information i, the channel i is in the high power consumption mode. Then, the host can change the value combination of the multiple configuration items of the optical module to that shown in the last row of Table 3 by changing the value of the low power consumption mode hardware pin to 1, thereby delivering the channel control information i that the value of the low power consumption transition signal of the channel i is 1 to the optical module. The optical module can configure the channel i to the low power consumption mode according to the received channel control information i, thereby realizing the switching of the power consumption mode of the channel i by the host.

[0149] By pre-configuring the low power consumption mask register, cooperating with the high and low level changes of the low power consumption mode hardware pin of the host, and triggering the high and low power consumption switching of part of the channels according to the mask rule, the high and low power consumption states of the channels are switched at the channel level by the low power consumption mode hardware pin interruption combined with the channel power consumption mask register. In the process of high and low power consumption switching, the control flow of register interaction is saved, the interaction time is greatly saved, and the fast high and low power consumption switching of the channels of the module is realized.

[0150] As shown in Table 3, by newly defining the protocol channel power consumption mask register, the low power consumption mode hardware pin interruption is used to trigger the control of the key communication subunit in the optical module to switch the high and low power consumption states of the channels according to the pre-configured channel power consumption register mask, and the communication unit in the module can support the power consumption mask control technology.

[0151] The application provides that the power consumption mode of the optical module is controlled by the value combination of the global configuration items and the channel configuration items. For the power consumption mode of the module (i.e., the overall low power consumption control of the optical module), the global configuration items (such as the forced module low power consumption register, the module low power consumption register, and / or the low power consumption mode hardware pin) can be used for control, or the channel configuration items (such as the channel low power consumption mask register and / or the channel low power consumption register) of the channels can be used to control multiple channels at the same time to realize.

[0152] Based on the truth table shown in Table 3, a possible flow step of the control method (or low power control state machine) of the optical module can be shown in FIG. 6-1. As shown in FIG. 6-1, the optical module can determine whether the value of the global Force LowPwr register is 1. If yes, the whole optical module enters the low power mode. If no, the optical module determines whether the value of the global LowPwr is 1. If the value of the global LowPwr is 1, the optical module can detect the state of the hardware LPMODE pin (i.e. the value of the hardware input signal received through the pin). When the state of the hardware LPMODE pin is 1, the whole optical module can enter the low power mode. When the state of the hardware LPMODE pin is 0, the whole optical module can enter the high power mode. If the value of the global LowPwr is not 1, the MCU can assign the value of the low power mask register of the channel i to the channel low power mask of the key communication subunit within the module. When the value of the low power mask register is 0, the optical module can obtain the state of the LPMODE pin, and then configure the LPMODE pin state of the key communication subunit. The key communication subunit does not respond to the change of the LPMODE pin state. The power mode of the channel i is 0 by default, i.e. the power mode of the channel i is the high power mode. When the value of the low power mask register is 1, the optical module can obtain the state of the LPMODE pin, and then configure the LPMODE pin state of the key communication subunit. The key communication subunit does not respond to the change of the LPMODE pin state. When the value of the LPMODE is 1, the power mode of the channel i is the low power mode. When the value of the LPMODE is 0, the power mode of the channel i is the high power mode. The key communication subunit will be illustrated by examples in the following, which will not be introduced here.

[0153] As an example, as shown in Table 3, when the values of the Force Module LowPwr register, the Module LowPwr register and the channel low power mask register of the channel i are all 0, the value of the module low power transition signal indicated by the configuration item combination i is “-”, and the value of the channel low power transition signal of the channel i is 0. Alternatively, when the values of the Force Module LowPwr register, the Module LowPwr register and the channel low power mask register of the channel i are all 0, the value of the module low power transition signal indicated by the configuration item combination i and the value of the channel low power transition signal of the channel i can both be “-”, which means that the configuration item combination i does not indicate the optical module to change the power mode of the whole module, nor to change the power mode of the channel i.

[0154] Example three, the configuration item combination i includes two configuration items of the channel i, and the two configuration items are the channel low power mask register and the channel low power register respectively.

[0155] Table 4 schematically shows another example of the low power transition signal truth table proposed in the present application, taking the configuration items including the force module low power register, the module low power register, the low power mask register of channel i, the low power mode hardware pin and the channel low power register of channel i as examples. Each row in Table 4 corresponds to a value combination of the five configuration items, and different rows correspond to different value combinations. The values in the first four columns in a row represent the values of the corresponding configuration items respectively, and the meanings of the values can be referred to the corresponding meanings in Table 2 or Table 3. The last three columns represent the control information or the power consumption state indication indicated by the corresponding value combination. The value in the third last column represents the value of the module low power transition signal, and the meanings of the values can be referred to the corresponding meanings in Table 2 or Table 3. The value in the second last column represents the value of the channel low power transition signal 1, and the value in the last column represents the value of the channel low power transition signal 2, and the meanings of the values can be referred to the corresponding meanings in Table 2 or Table 3. The channel low power transition signal of channel i can be the channel low power transition signal 1 or the channel low power transition signal 2. Therefore, when the host configures the values of the target configuration items, and the value combination of the configuration item combination i is as any one of the last five rows in Table 4, the optical module can determine the value of the channel low power transition signal of channel i, and it can be considered that the host sends the channel control information i to the optical module.

[0156] Table 4

[0157] The determination rule of the low power transition signal defined in Table 4 is described in words as follows.

[0158] Module low power transition signal: if (force module low power register OR module low power register == 1), low power transition signal = force module low power register OR (module low power register AND low power mode hardware pin)

[0159] Module low power state indication: indicates the module low power state 1 when all channels are in low power, and indicates the high power state 0 in other states.

[0160] Channel low power transition signal: 1, if (force module low power register AND module low power register == 0 AND channel low power mask register == 1), channel low power transition signal = low power mode hardware pin AND OR channel low power register; 2, if (force module low power register AND module low power register == 0 AND channel low power mask register == 0), channel low power transition signal = force module low power register AND module low power register, regardless of the low power hardware pin, the channel low power mask register and nothing.

[0161] Channel low power state indication: indicates the state 1 when the channel is in low power, and indicates the high power state 0 when the channel is in high power.

[0162] wherein "OR" represents logical AND, and "AND" represents logical OR.

[0163] As shown in Table 4, the channel low power mask register takes effect only when the forced module low power register and the module low power register are both 0. When the register takes effect, the channel low power mask register can be used to mask the channel i high-low power switching operation, and in the state switching of the low power mode hardware pin and the channel low power register, a determined power state 0 is obtained in the high-low power switching process. Table 4 takes bit 0 of the low power mask register as representing the masking of the low power mode hardware pin and the channel low power register control, and other values (such as 1) can also be used to represent the masking of the low power mode hardware pin and the channel low power register control.

[0164] The value combination of the plurality of configuration items in the truth table shown in Table 4 can also indicate the control information of the channel i, in addition to indicating that the control information of the module is different from the value combination of the plurality of configuration items in the truth table shown in Table 1, thereby facilitating the host to change the power mode of the channel i by changing the value of the target configuration item.

[0165] As an example, assuming that the channel low power transition signal of the channel i refers to the channel low power transition signal 1 shown in Table 2, before the optical module receives the channel control information i, the value combination of the plurality of configuration items of the optical module is shown in the second last row of Table 4, that is, the value of the forced module low power register is 0, the value of the module low power register is 0, the value of the channel low power mask register is 1, the value of the low power mode hardware pin is 0, and the value of the channel low power register is 1, therefore, before the optical module receives the channel control information i, the channel i is in the high power mode. Subsequently, the host can change the value combination of the plurality of configuration items of the optical module to that shown in the fourth last row of Table 4 by changing the value of the low power mode hardware pin to 1, thereby delivering the channel control information i that the value of the low power transition signal of the channel i is 1 to the optical module, and the optical module can configure the channel i to the low power mode according to the received channel control information i, thereby realizing the switching of the power mode of the channel i by the host.

[0166] Based on the truth table shown in Table 4, the following describes a possible flow of steps for the control method of the optical module in conjunction with Figure 6-2. As shown in Figure 6-2, the host initializes the optical module registers and the LPMODE pin. The optical module (referred to as the module) determines the values of the global Force LowPwr and the global LowPwr registers, and if either of the registers is not 0, the module performs overall low power control, and the control state truth table is determined by the global Force LowPwr, the global LowPwr registers, and the LPMODE truth table. The module determines the values of the global Force LowPwr and the global LowPwr registers, and if both are 0, the module performs channel-level low power control. The module determines whether the value of the channel low power mask register is 0, and if it is 0, the channel power control ignores the LPMODE and the channel low power registers, and the corresponding configuration is not effective, and the power state is high power. If the value of the channel low power mask register is not 0 (for example, if it is 1), the channel power is determined by the "and" operation of the values of the LPMODE hardware pin and the channel LowPwr register, for example, an operation result of 1 represents that the power mode of channel i is a low power mode, and an operation result of 0 represents that the power mode of channel i is a high power mode.

[0167] The host / module can first configure the corresponding channel low power mask register and the channel LowPwr register, and during operation, configure the LPMODE hardware pin level state as needed. The optical module detects the LPMODE pin with an interrupt or polling, and in conjunction with the channel LowPwr and the channel low power mask register state, quickly responds to high / low power switching, while shielding the mask channel from operation.

[0168] Optionally, the configuration item combination of channel i can not define the global Force LowPwr and the global LowPwr registers, and the step of determining the values of the global Force LowPwr register and the global LowPwr register by the module is omitted, and the subsequent step is directly entered, and partial channel or overall module low power control is achieved through multi-channel parallel control processing.

[0169] Optionally, the module can generate the value of the low power mask register used by the key communication subunit in the module according to the values of the channel LowPwr register and the channel low power mask register, and the value is configured to the key communication subunit in advance. After the module determines the LPMODE pin state, the LPMODE state can be directly configured to the key communication subunit, or the LPMODE hardware pin is directly connected to the key communication subunit.

[0170] Optionally, the configuration item combination of the channel can add a new definition register, and the value of the register is used to indicate whether to perform overall module power mode control or channel-level power mode control, or in other words, whether to perform global power control or channel-level register control.

[0171] As an example, as shown in Table 4, when the values of the forced module low power register, the module low power register, and the lane low power mask register of lane i are all 0, the value of the module low power transition signal indicated by the configuration item combination i is “-”, and the values of the lane low power transition signal 1 and the lane low power transition signal 2 of lane i are both 0. Alternatively, when the values of the forced module low power register, the module low power register, and the lane low power mask register of lane i are all 0, the value of the module low power transition signal indicated by the configuration item combination i can be “-”, and the value of the lane low power transition signal 1 and / or the lane low power transition signal 2 of lane i can be “-”.

[0172] The optical module can switch the power consumption mode of lane i by changing the configuration scheme of lane i. For the convenience of description, the configuration scheme of lane i when lane i is in the low power consumption mode is referred to as the low power consumption configuration scheme of lane i, and the configuration scheme of lane i when lane i is in the high power consumption mode is referred to as the high power consumption configuration scheme of lane i. The low power consumption configuration scheme and the high power consumption configuration scheme are different.

[0173] The communication unit of the optical module can support register configuration to realize high-low power consumption switching by lane. The configuration scheme of lane i can describe the type and value of one or more parameters of the communication unit constituting the optical module, and different configuration schemes of lane i can describe different values of the same parameters.

[0174] The present application does not limit the type and value of the parameters described by the configuration scheme of lane i. As shown in FIG. 3-2, the parameters described by the configuration scheme can include parameters of the DSP / CDR, and / or parameters of the TIA, and / or parameters of the optical detector, and / or parameters of the driver, and / or parameters of the laser.

[0175] The present application does not limit that the values of all parameters of the communication unit of the optical module are different under different configuration schemes of lane i. Assuming that the switching duration of the power consumption mode of other components shown in FIG. 3-2 is long, the values of the parameters of the other components can not change under different configuration schemes of lane i.

[0176] The configuration scheme of the power consumption mode can indicate multiple parameters, and the multiple parameters can be parameters of multiple communication sub-units. By changing the power consumption mode of lane i, the host can change the values of the multiple parameters. Compared with the power consumption that can be changed by the host changing the value of a single parameter or a parameter of a single communication sub-unit, it is beneficial for the host to realize more effective or larger granularity power consumption change in the optical module with higher control efficiency or smaller time delay (e.g., ms or even us level).

[0177] Optionally, the optical module has a plurality of channel groups that support individual control, each channel group can include one or more channels. The channel i described above can be any one of the plurality of channel groups, that is, for each channel group of the optical module, the optical module has at least one channel configuration item of the channel group. In this way, the optical module can support separate and independent control (or parallel control) of a plurality of channel groups. As previously described, the combination of configuration items of channel i can include global configuration items and channel configuration items, and the host can transmit control information of the power consumption mode of the plurality of channel groups by sending control signals for configuring the global configuration items to the optical module, to efficiently control the power consumption mode of the plurality of channel groups. Based on the fact that the values of the channel configuration items of different channel groups can be different, the power consumption modes determined by the optical module for different channel groups based on the same value of the global configuration items can be different.

[0178] The same channel configuration item of different channel groups can be different bits or different bit fields of the same register. The present application does not limit the size of the bit occupied by the channel configuration item of a single channel group. Taking the example of a single channel group occupying 1 bit, 1 byte corresponds to 8 channel groups at most, 2 bytes correspond to 16 channel groups, and so on. One byte can also be used to control one channel group, and N bytes correspond to N channel groups. For example, the optical module has a low-power mask register and a channel LowPwr register, both of which have a plurality of bits and can support parallel control of multiple channels.

[0179] The present application does not limit the division method of the plurality of channel groups. Assuming that the optical module has n channels, in one possible example, the optical module can divide the n channels into n channel groups, and set at least one channel configuration item for each channel. Taking the example of each bit of the register being used to store the value of the channel configuration item of one channel, assuming that the optical module has n channels, the channel low-power mask register of channel 1, the channel low-power mask register of channel 2, …, the channel low-power mask register of channel n can be the 1st bit, the 2nd bit, …, the nth bit of the same register (for example, called the channel low-power mask register). Assuming that the optical module has n channels, in one possible example, the optical module can divide the n channels into 2 channel groups, all channels in the transmission direction are in one group, and all channels in the receiving direction are in one group. Correspondingly, the optical module can set at least one channel configuration item for all channels in the transmission direction, and set at least one channel configuration item for all channels in the receiving direction.

[0180] The power consumption mode of the lane can be used to indicate the value of one or more parameters in the optical module or the communication unit corresponding to the lane. The value of all or part of the parameters indicated by different power consumption modes can be different. The present application does not limit the power consumption mode of the lane to indicate or control the parameters of each communication subunit in the communication unit. In some examples, the power consumption mode is used to indicate or control the parameters of the key communication subunit in the communication unit. The present application does not limit the number and type of key communication subunits. For example, the key communication subunits can include DSP / CDR, TIA, optical detector, driver and laser, or the key communication subunits can include electrical chips therein, such as DSP / CDR, TIA and driver (referred to as key communication subunits). Herein, the key communication subunits are taken as an example including DSP / CDR, TIA, optical detector, driver and laser.

[0181] As shown in FIG. 3-2, the low-power mode hardware pin of the host can be connected to the MCU of the optical module, and the MCU of the module is used to control the key communication subunits to enter or exit low power consumption. FIG. 7-1 schematically shows another structure of the system. As shown in FIG. 7-1, in some examples, a hardware pin connection (as shown by the thick dashed line in FIG. 7-1) is added between the MCU of the optical module and the low-power consumption control of the key communication subunit. The MCU can be connected to the key communication subunit through a communication bus (such as I2C) and a hardware pin, and perform switching control of different power consumption modes (such as high and low power consumption modes) of the lane level. The key communication subunits constituting the module also provide an LPMODE pin control interface, which supports entering or exiting low power consumption through the pin.

[0182] The key communication subunit of the optical module can have a configuration item combination of lane i, and the number of configuration items in the configuration item combination of lane i of the key communication subunit can be equal to or less than the number of configuration items in the configuration item combination of lane i of the MCU, which is conducive to simplifying the complexity of the key communication subunit to determine the power consumption mode of lane i. For example, the configuration item combination of lane i of the key communication subunit can include an LPMODE hardware pin, a lane power consumption mask register and / or a lane power consumption register configuration, and the MCU can trigger the high and low power consumption switching by changing the value of any one or more configuration items. The lane masked by the power consumption mask register can not respond to the change of the LPMODE pin.

[0183] The optical module can obtain the protocol LPMODE hardware pin state switching through inspection or interruption, quickly configure the LPMODE pin state connected in the module and the communication unit, so as to realize the low power consumption control of the module lane, without the need for register interaction.

[0184] Based on the system structure shown in Figure 7-1 and the truth table shown in Table 4, another flow example of the control method of the optical module is shown in Figure 7-2. As shown in Figure 7-2, the optical module (referred to as module) judges whether the value of the global Force LowPwr is 1. When it is 1, the optical module as a whole enters the low power mode. When it is not 1, it is judged whether the value of the global LowPwr register is 1. If the value of the global LowPwr register is 1, the optical module detects the state of the hardware LPMODE pin. When the state is 1, the module as a whole enters the low power mode. When the state is 0, the module as a whole enters the high power mode. When the global LowPwr is not 1, the optical module judges whether the value of the channel low power mask register of channel i is 0. If the value of the channel low power mask register is 0, the optical module can ignore the states of LPMODE and the channel LowPwr register, and the power mode of channel i by default is the high power mode. When the value of the channel low power mask register is not 0, the MCU can obtain the value of the channel LowPwr register, and assign the value to the channel low power mask register of the key communication subunit in the module according to the logical AND operation result of the value of the channel LowPwr register and the value of the channel low power mask register. When the value of the register is 0, the module can obtain the state change of the LPMODE hardware pin, the MCU can configure the LPMODE hardware pin state of the key communication subunit, the key communication subunit can not respond to the change of the LPMODE hardware pin, and the power mode of channel i by default is the high power mode. When the value of the register is 1, the module can obtain the state change of the LPMODE hardware pin, the MCU can configure the LPMODE hardware pin state of the key communication subunit, when the value of the state of the LPMODE hardware pin is 1, the key communication subunit can control the power mode of the corresponding channel (such as channel i) to be the low power mode, and when the value of the state of the LPMODE hardware pin is 0, the key communication subunit can control the power mode of the corresponding channel (such as channel i) to be the high power mode.

[0185] Optionally, if the key communication subunit of the optical module does not support the channel power mask register configuration, the module MCU can obtain the LPMODE hardware pin state, the protocol channel LowPwr register and the low power mask register, calculate the channel power control target according to the truth table, and control the power state switching of the key communication subunit in the module through the communication bus.

[0186] Compared with the prior art, by combining the low power mode hardware pin interrupt with the channel power mask register to switch the high and low power states by channel, the control flow of register interaction in the process of switching the high and low power states is saved, the interaction time is greatly saved, and the high and low power states are switched quickly by channel and by module.

[0187] Compared with the prior art, a protocol channel power consumption mask register is newly defined, and a low-power mode hardware pin interrupt triggering mode is used to control the key communication subunit to switch the channel high and low power states according to the preconfigured channel power consumption register mask in the optical module.

[0188] In some examples, the low-power mode hardware pin of the host / optical module golden finger can be directly connected to the key communication subunit of the optical module to directly switch the high and low power consumption, reduce the interaction process controlled by the MCU, and further reduce the interaction processing time. FIG. 8-1 schematically shows another structure of the system. As shown in FIG. 8-1, the LPMODE hardware pin between the host and the optical module is connected to the LPMODE hardware pin of the key communication subunit (as shown by the thick dashed line in FIG. 8-1) in addition to being connected to the MCU of the optical module. The host configures the protocol LPMODE hardware pin state switching, and the MCU and the communication unit of the module simultaneously (or separately) respond to the LPMODE pin state change. The communication unit controls the corresponding channel power state according to the channel power consumption mask state in the chip, and the MCU simultaneously processes the power consumption switching of other hardware units.

[0189] The key communication subunit of the optical module can have a channel i configuration item combination, and the number of configuration items in the channel i configuration item combination of the key communication subunit can be equal to or less than the number of configuration items in the channel i configuration item combination of the MCU, which is conducive to simplifying the complexity of the key communication subunit in determining the power consumption mode of the channel i. For example, the channel i configuration item combination of the key communication subunit can include an LPMODE hardware pin, a channel power consumption mask register, and / or a channel power consumption register configuration. The host can trigger the high and low power consumption switching of the key communication subunit through the value of the hardware input signal of the LPMODE hardware pin. The channel masked by the power consumption mask register can be selected not to respond to the LPMODE pin change.

[0190] In the example shown in FIG. 8-1, the steps performed by the optical module in the foregoing S401-S403 can be performed by the key communication subunit.

[0191] Based on the system structure shown in Figure 8-1 and the truth table shown in Table 4, another flowchart of the control method of the optical module is shown in Figure 8-2. As shown in Figure 8-2, the optical module (referred to as module) judges whether the value of the global Force LowPwr is 1. When it is 1, the optical module as a whole enters the low power consumption mode. When it is not 1, it is judged whether the value of the global LowPwr register is 1. If the value of the global LowPwr register is 1, the MCU configures all channel register masks of the key communication subunit to be 1, does not mask the LPMODE state change, detects the state of the LPMODE hardware pin, and the MCU and the key communication subunit respectively configure the power consumption mode of all channels according to the LPMODE state, for example, when the LPMODE state is 1, all channels enter the low power consumption mode, and when the state is 0, all channels enter the high power consumption mode. When the global LowPwr is not 1, the optical module judges whether the value of the channel low power consumption mask register of channel i is 0. If the value of the channel low power consumption mask register is 0, the optical module can ignore the states of the LPMODE and the channel LowPwr register, and the power consumption mode of channel i is the high power consumption mode by default. When the value of the channel low power consumption mask register is not 0, the MCU can obtain the value of the channel LowPwr register, and according to the logical AND operation result of the values of the channel LowPwr register and the channel low power consumption mask register, the value is assigned to the channel low power consumption mask register of the key communication subunit. When the value of the channel low power consumption mask register of the key communication subunit is 0, the MCU and the key communication subunit can respectively obtain the state of the LPMODE hardware pin, and neither of them responds to the state change of the LPMODE hardware pin, and the power consumption mode of channel i is the high power consumption by default. When the value of the channel low power consumption mask register of the key communication subunit is 1, the MCU and the key communication subunit can respectively respond to the state change of the LPMODE hardware pin, when the state of the LPMODE is 1, channel i enters the low power consumption mode, and when the state of the LPMODE is 0, channel i enters the high power consumption mode.

[0192] Compared with the prior art, the host directly controls the high and low power consumption switching of the communication unit of the optical module, saves the operation process between the module and the communication unit in the high and low power consumption switching process, further saves the interaction time, and realizes the fast high and low power consumption switching of the module channel.

[0193] The host directly controls the high and low power consumption switching of the key communication subunit through the LPMODE pin, saves the interaction process time in the high and low power consumption control process, and realizes the fast high and low power consumption switching of the module channel.

[0194] For example, the key communication subunit and the host shown in FIG. 8-1 can be connected through a newly added hardware pin in the electrical connector of the optical module, to serve as a differentiated control definition. When the key communication subunit of the optical module supports direct connection to the newly added hardware pin, the host can directly control the key communication subunit to switch the power consumption mode of the entire optical module or channel i through the hardware pin.

[0195] In some examples, the low power mode hardware pins mentioned in the present application can be replaced by other newly added hardware pins.

[0196] For any configuration item mentioned in the present application, the positions of values 0 and 1 can be swapped, i.e., the meaning of value 0 can be changed to the meaning of value 1 introduced above, and the meaning of value 1 can be changed to the meaning of value 0 introduced above. Alternatively, values 0 and / or 1 can be replaced by other values.

[0197] Based on the support of the optical module for transmitting signals and receiving signals, a single channel of the optical module can include a transmitting channel (denoted as Tx channel) and a receiving channel (denoted as Rx channel). The channel configuration item of channel i mentioned in the present application can be specifically associated with Tx channel i and / or Rx channel i of channel i. Alternatively, for the Tx channel and the Rx channel of any channel, the optical module can have a channel configuration item for the Tx channel and a channel configuration item for the Rx channel, respectively, which is conducive to configuring the Tx channel and the Rx channel of the same channel to advance or retreat high or low power consumption, respectively.

[0198] Alternatively, assuming that the optical module has n channels, based on the support of the optical module for transmitting signals and receiving signals, it can be considered that the optical module includes n transmitting channels and n receiving channels. The channel configuration item of channel i mentioned in the present application can be associated with the n transmitting channels or the n receiving channels. The optical module can have a Tx channel configuration item and a Rx channel configuration item, respectively. The Tx channel configuration item is associated with the n transmitting channels, and the single power consumption mode determined thereby is used to indicate the power consumption mode of all Tx channels. The Rx channel configuration item is associated with the n receiving channels, and the single power consumption mode determined thereby is used to indicate the power consumption mode of all Rx channels. In this way, it is conducive to configuring all Tx channels and all Rx channels to advance or retreat high or low power consumption, respectively. For example, Tx channel LowPwr registers and Rx channel LowPwr registers can be defined for module Tx and Rx, respectively, and module Tx (i.e., all Tx channels) and module Rx (i.e., all Rx channels) can be configured to advance or retreat high or low power consumption through the Tx channel LowPwr registers and the Rx channel LowPwr registers, respectively.

[0199] The control method of the optical module provided in the application can be applied to various aspects of the design and use of high-speed optical modules, and is used to realize high-low power consumption switching of the optical module according to a channel level in initialization and normal operation, minimize the control granularity of low power consumption, minimize power consumption, reduce high-low power consumption switching time, and realize fast high-low power consumption switching.

[0200] In order to better implement the method of the application, the related communication device or equipment for implementing the above method is provided below.

[0201] The application provides a communication device 900. Any method flow performed by the host in the foregoing can be performed in the communication device 900. The communication device 900 can be the host introduced in the foregoing, or can be installed in the host introduced in the foregoing. The application does not limit the type of the host introduced in the foregoing, as long as the host can be connected to the optical module introduced in the foregoing, and can use the optical module to perform optical communication with other equipment. For example, the host can be an OLT or an ONU or a router or a switch or a server or an OTN transmission device or a computer device, etc.

[0202] Optionally, referring to FIG. 9, the communication device 900 can include but is not limited to including a processor 910, a memory 920, and a communication interface 930.

[0203] The communication interface 930 is used to connect the optical module. Optionally, the communication interface 930 is a wired interface, which is used to connect a wired link such as a cable or an optical fiber. Alternatively, the communication interface 930 can be a wireless interface.

[0204] The application does not limit the connection mode between the processor 910, the memory 920, and the communication interface 930. Optionally, the processor 910, the memory 920, and the communication interface 930 can be connected to each other through an internal bus 940. The bus 940 can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus 940 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For the convenience of representation, only one thick line is used in FIG. 9, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0205] The processor 910 can be constituted by one or more general-purpose processors, such as a central processing unit (CPU), or a combination of a CPU and a hardware chip. The hardware chip can be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD can be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof.

[0206] The memory 920 can include a volatile memory, such as a random access memory (RAM); the memory 920 can also include a non-volatile memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory, a hard disk drive (HDD), or a solid-state drive (SSD); the memory 920 can also include a combination of the above-mentioned types.

[0207] The memory 920 stores computer instructions. The processor 910 can execute the steps performed by the host as described above, and / or the steps performed by the sending unit and / or the receiving unit of the communication device as described above, by executing the computer instructions.

[0208] The method flow and effects performed by the communication device 900 can refer to the related content of the corresponding method performed by the host as described above, which will not be described herein again.

[0209] The present application provides a system, which can be any of the systems described above or be arranged in any of the optical systems described above.

[0210] The present application also provides an optical network, which can include one or more of the systems described above, and different systems can be connected through an optical interconnection network. The optical network can be as shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, at least one optical communication device in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 can be the system described above, or the system described above can be deployed in at least one optical communication device in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2. The optical interconnection network can include one or more optical links (e.g., optical fibers), and can also include one or more optical switching devices.

[0211] The present application also provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, when the computer program is executed by a processor, can implement part or all steps of any one of the above method examples. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a general or special purpose computer. The present application example also provides a computer program, which includes instructions, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can execute part or all steps of any one of the method examples. Those skilled in the art can understand that the computer readable storage medium described above includes various non-transitory machine readable media that can store program codes, such as U disk, mobile hard disk, magnetic disk, optical disk, RAM, SSD or non-volatile memory, etc.

[0212] Since the devices provided by the examples of the present application can be used to execute the corresponding method examples described above, the technical effects that can be obtained by the device examples of the present application can refer to the technical effects obtained by the corresponding method examples described above, which will not be described here.

[0213] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working process of the system, device and unit described above can refer to the corresponding process in the above method examples, which will not be described here. The "A and / or B" involved in the examples of the present application can be understood as including "A and B" and "A or B" two schemes. The terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth" and the like in the specification and claims of the present application and the above drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and do not necessarily indicate a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the terms used in this way can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances, and this is only a way of distinguishing the objects with the same properties in the description of the examples of the present application.

[0214] In several examples provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed modules or devices or apparatuses can be implemented in other manners. For example, the division of the above-described apparatus examples is merely illustrative, and the division of the units can be changed in other manners, for example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the display or discussion of the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the units can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and can be electrical or other forms.

[0215] Finally, it should be noted that the above examples are merely used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than limit the same; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing examples, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing examples can still be modified, or some technical features can be replaced by equivalents; and these modifications or replacements do not cause the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the protection scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A system, characterized by The system comprises a connected communication device and an optical module, the optical module has a plurality of channels; The communication device is configured to send control information to the optical module, the control information comprises first control information, the first control information is used to control the power consumption mode of a first channel in the plurality of channels; The optical module is configured to receive the control information and control the power consumption mode of the first channel according to the first control information.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein, The communication device is configured to send a control signal to the optical module; The optical module is configured to receive the control signal and configure the value of a target configuration item of the optical module according to the control signal; The optical module is configured to determine the first control information according to the value of a first configuration item combination of the optical module, wherein the first configuration item combination comprises a plurality of configuration items, the first configuration item combination comprises the target configuration item, and at least one configuration item in the first configuration item combination is a configuration item of the first channel, the value of the configuration item of the first channel is used to control the power consumption mode of the first channel.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein, The control information further comprises second control information, the second control information is used to control the power consumption mode of a second channel in the plurality of channels, and the target configuration item is a configuration item of the plurality of channels, which is used to control the power consumption mode of the plurality of channels; The optical module is further configured to determine the second control information according to the value of a second configuration item combination of the optical module, wherein the second configuration item combination comprises a plurality of configuration items, the second configuration item combination comprises the target configuration item, and at least one configuration item in the second configuration item combination is a configuration item of the second channel, the value of the configuration item of the second channel is used to control the power consumption mode of the second channel; The optical module is further configured to control the power consumption mode of the second channel according to the second control information.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein, The first control information and the second control information are used to set the power consumption modes of the first channel and the second channel to different power consumption modes.

5. The system of claim 3 or 4, wherein, The value of the configuration item of the first channel and the value of the configuration item of the second channel are stored in different registers, or in different bit fields in the same register.

6. The system of any one of claims 3-5, wherein, The control signal is a hardware input signal received by the optical module through a hardware pin.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein, The optical module comprises a control unit and a communication unit, and the communication unit is directly connected to the hardware pin; The control unit is configured to control the communication unit; The communication unit is configured to receive the control signal through the hardware pin and determine the first control information according to the control signal; The communication unit is further configured to receive and convert the electrical signal of the first channel into the optical signal of the first channel, and / or convert the optical signal of the first channel into the electrical signal of the first channel and send the electrical signal of the first channel to the communication device according to the power consumption mode of the first channel indicated by the first control information.

8. An optical module characterized by comprising: The optical module comprises: receive a control information from the communication device, the control information comprising a first control information, the first control information being used to control a power consumption mode of a first channel of the plurality of channels; control a power consumption mode of the first channel according to the first control information.

9. A communications device, characterized by The communication device is used to connect an optical module having a plurality of channels, and the communication device comprises: send a control information to the optical module, the control information comprising a first control information, the first control information being used to control a power consumption mode of a first channel of the plurality of channels; receive a response information from the optical module, the response information being used to indicate a control result of the power consumption mode of the first channel.

10. A method characterized by, The method is applied to a system comprising a communication device and an optical module having a plurality of channels, and the method comprises: the communication device sends a control information to the optical module, the control information comprising a first control information, the first control information being used to control a power consumption mode of a first channel of the plurality of channels; the optical module receives the control information and controls the power consumption mode of the first channel according to the first control information.

11. A method characterized by, The method is applied to an optical module having a plurality of channels, and the method comprises: receive a control information from a communication device, the control information comprising a first control information, the first control information being used to control a power consumption mode of a first channel of the plurality of channels; control a power consumption mode of the first channel according to the first control information.

12. A method characterized by, The method is applied to a communication device used to connect an optical module having a plurality of channels, and the method comprises: send a control information to the optical module, the control information comprising a first control information, the first control information being used to control a power consumption mode of a first channel of the plurality of channels; receive a response information from the optical module, the response information being used to indicate a control result of the power consumption mode of the first channel.

13. An optical network, characterized by one or more systems, at least one of the one or more systems being as claimed in any of claims 1-7, the different ones of the one or more systems being connected through an optical interconnection network.

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