High-speed communications at low cost with the latest optical transceiver
Created July 4, 2023
Product FocusHamamatsu Photonics has developed an optical transceiver P16671-01AS that achieves fiber-optic communications at a data transmission speed of 1.25 Gbps.
Compared to other optical link products whose maximum data transmission speed is 150 Mbps, the P16671-01AS offers a significantly higher speed. For short-distance board-to-board communication within the equipment, it is usable with inexpensive plastic optical fiber achieving high-speed data communication at a low cost. Also, using it along with hard plastic clad fibers or large-diameter glass optical fibers extends the data transmission distance up to 100 meters making it ideal for setting up a network or communicating between devices or equipment.
It consists of an optical transmitter for converting electrical signals into optical signals, an optical receiver for converting optical signals into electrical signals, and lens/connector assemblies for connecting to optical fibers. Unlike our current transmitter photo ICs that use a LED as the light emitter, the P16671-01AS optical transceiver uses a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) that operates at higher speeds to further increase the data transmission speed. It also uses a high-speed light sensor and a signal processing IC that maximizes the light sensor characteristics, which were designed in-house.
Practical applications of the P16671-01AS include short-distance board-to-board communications using POF in equipment such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment, scientific and laboratory instruments, and measuring instruments as well as image and video transmission in medical equipment. When used with HPCF or large-diameter glass optical fibers, medium-to-long distance communication and networking between equipment is possible up to distances of 100 meters.
