Optical interconnections on printed circuit boards

In this paper an optical interconnection technology for high-speed printed circuit board application is presented. This technology is widely compatible with the existing design and manufacturing technologies of conventional multi-layer pc boards-and it combines electrical and optical interconnects on pc board level. Using this interconnection technology; on-board bandwidth of several Gbps can be realized. As conventional pc board technology provides sufficient performance characteristics for the majority of all on-board signals only a hybrid technology which is compatible to the existing printed circuit board design and manufacturing processes is able to lead to a practical solution at reasonable;cost. This compatibility demand results in different technological, functional, and economic requirements which also consider potential application for high performance computing and telecommunication hardware. In this paper an overview is given on the requirements, on the basic technologies for manufacturing electrical-optical pc boards as well as on the extended design process with its modeling and simulation methodologies and strategies.