Si bipolar 3.3 V transmitter/receiver IC chip set for 1 Gb/s 12-channel parallel optical interconnects

In view of the recent progress of data communication and multimedia technology, high-throughput I/O interfaces are required to realize systems that have higher performance. Many types of optical interconnects have been proposed, as alternatives to electrical ones, to solve certain problems respecting electromagnetic interference (EMI) and/or extension of connection distance. An optical parallel interconnect has an advantage of simple structure and short latency time compared with a serial one. This paper presents an IC chip set operating with a 3.3 V single power supply for 12-channel parallel optical transmitter/receiver modules as a universal interface device between inter- and/or intracabinet circuits.