Optical waveguides – With optical coupler – Plural
Patent
1992-08-21
1994-04-19
Bovernick, Rodney B.
Optical waveguides
With optical coupler
Plural
385 44, 385 50, 385146, G02B 626
Patent
active
053054016
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
RELATED CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS
The following co-pending applications are related to the present invention:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an optical connection device for transmission of light information; it also relates, by way of application, to a data processing apparatus fitted with optical transmission means employing such a connection principle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the data processing installations where the information is processed en masse in parallel, it is more and more necessary to have available transmission lines called "buses", of high performance, capable of transmitting several Gbits/s.
Only optical technology today is capable of providing throughputs greater than a Gbits/s, simultaneously over a large number of links, with interfaces of small dimensions and low consumption.
The European Patent Document 0 196 933 describes a system making it possible to establish optical links between circuits of the same apparatus. It necessitates a transparent sheet forming the rear panel of the housing, light sources and receivers carried by the printed circuits and situated, preferably, in immediate proximity to the said rear panel. The diffracting optical elements and reflector elements are judiciously placed on the rear panel in order to transmit the light between one or more emitters and one or more receivers by creating multiple reflections in the transparent sheet. This principle implies a certain optical route "in air" outside any light guide of the fibre optic type.
Moreover, it is relatively constricting as far as the installation of the components on the printed circuits and the positioning of the latter are concerned.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention envisages a different concept in which every optical route is completely defined by light guides, with high-performance optical connections between them, giving rise to a minimum loss.
One aim of the invention is to propose a novel, simple, high-performance optical connection device, which is economical as much from the point of view of the installation cost as from the point of view of the running cost.
To this end, the invention relates to an optical connection device for transmission of light information, comprising at least one first rigid transparent element with a pointed end, at least one second element made at least partly of transparent elastic material, and mechanical fixing means for forcibly applying and holding the pointed end of the said first element against the part made of transparent elastic material of the said second element.
All of these elements are preferably made of glass or of transparent plastic material as far as the rigid parts are concerned; the elastic material mentioned above is a material adapted to the transmission of optical signals, based on silicon or on deformable plastic such as a thermoplastic of the hot-or cold-vulcanising silicone elastomer type, used especially for contact lenses.
Another aim of the invention is to apply the connection principle defined above in the architectures of data processing apparatuses (signal, information or images) comprising optical transmission means with high throughputs, for example of the order of several Gbits/s.
Another aim of the invention is to provide high-performance optical links, possibly disconnectable, between the components of a single circuit and/or components of neighboring circuits.
More precisely, the invention relates to a data processing apparatus with optical transmission means for transmission of light information, comprising at least one first light guide with a pointed end made of rigid material, at least one second light guide fitted with at least one segment of transparent elastic material, and mechanical fixing means for forcibly applying and holding the said end against a side of the said segment made of transparent elastic material.
The pointed end of the said first light guide will preferably be in the shape of a cone if the guide has a cylindrical cross-section or in the shape of a dihedron i
REFERENCES:
patent: 4169001 (1979-09-01), Kaiser
patent: 4294513 (1981-10-01), Nelson et al.
patent: 4675521 (1987-06-01), Sugimoto
patent: 4830461 (1989-05-01), Ishiharada et al.
Becker Alain
Chazelas Jean
"Thomson-CSF"
Bovernick Rodney B.
Ngo John
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