Platform Supports the Shortest Direct Electrical Connections between Two OSFP Transceivers

Abstract

Two OSFP transceivers' connectors' footprints are placed on the opposite sides of a PCB board. The two footprints are aligned in a special way and the connections among the high speed signals' pads of the two footprints are specially defined. Based on that, the high speed signals' pads of the two footprints are connected through PCB traces and vias. Two OSFP electrical connectors are soldered onto the two footprints. So the electrical high-speed signals coming from two OSFP transceivers are directly connected in the shortest way when the two transceivers are respectively plugged into the two OSFP connectors.

Description

FIELD OF APPLICATION OF THIS INVENTION

Telecommunication and Data communication industries' R&D, Testing and Production.

BACKGROUND

OSFP transceivers are broadly applied in the Telecommunication and Data communication industry for exchange of information over distances. The interconnections in those applications are all about transceivers to host system and host system to transceivers. However, the connections directly between OSFP transceivers had been not discussed and even ignored. Nevertheless, an interposer board supporting direct electrical connections between two transceivers is very potential to establish a fundamental platform, on which new applications will be developed and existing design may be leveraged by using it. This invention will present what the fundamental interposer platform looks like and how it can implements the adjustable length to the shortest and all uniform length electrical connections for all the electrical high-speed signals coming from two OSFP transceivers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to achieve the best performance of electrical connections between high-speed signals coming from two OSFP transceivers, the two transceivers need to be plugged into two OSFP electrical connectors mounted on the opposite sides of a PCB interposer board. The two OSFP electrical connectors are soldered or epoxied onto their footprints. Each footprint of the two electrical connectors consists of 60 pads and 32 of them are defined as high-speed signals. The two footprints are individually placed on different sides of the PCB interposer board and aligned as the way that all adjacent pads are lined up and spaced evenly by looking through transparent view from either side of the PCB interposer. Length adjustable PCB traces and vias are used to implement the connection of each pair of specially mated pads, which are individually located on the opposites of the PCB interposer board. Therefore, the electrical high-speed signals coming from the two transceivers are connected through the electrical connectors, footprints' pads, length adjustable PCB traces and vias.

Overall, this invention is about a PCB interposer platform, which enables the accomplishment of direct, uniform and shortest electrical connections for all the high-speed signals coming from two OSFP transceivers. This utility of the special way of making the connections between two OSFP electrical connectors distinguishes this solution having adjustable length to the shortest capability, being capable to make all connections uniform, taking minimum space and importantly avoiding to use any RF cables.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

1. FIG. 1 is a drawing of an OSFP electrical connector's footprint Footprint A on the top side of a PCB (Top view).

2. FIG. 2 is a drawing of an OSFP electrical connector's footprint Footprint B on the bottom side of a PCB (Top transparent view).

3. FIG. 3 is a drawing of two OSFP electrical connectors' footprints Footprint A and Footprint B disposed on the different sides of a PCB and aligned in a special way as shown (Top transparent view).

4. FIG. 4 is a drawing of how the high speed signals' pads of the two OSFP electrical connectors' footprints Footprint A and Footprint B are connected through PCB traces and vias on a PCB board when the connections of the pads are defined in Type I (Top transparent view).

5. FIG. 5 is a drawing of how the high speed signals' pads of the two OSFP electrical connectors' footprints Footprint A and Footprint B are connected through PCB traces and vias on a PCB board when the connections of the pads are defined in Type II (Top transparent view).

6. FIG. 6 is a 3D drawing of an OSFP electrical connector's footprint Footprint A disposed on the top side of a PCB board.

7. FIG. 7 is a 3D drawing of two OSFP electrical connectors' footprints Footprint A and Footprint B respectively disposed and aligned in a special way on the top side and on the bottom side of a PCB board.

8. FIG. 8 is a 3D drawing of two OSFP electrical connectors Connector A and Connector B respectively soldered onto their footprints Footprint A and Footprint B, which are located on the top side and the bottom side of a PCB board.

9. FIG. 9 is a 3D drawing of two OSFP transceivers Transceiver I and Transceiver II respectively plugged into their electrical connectors Connector A and Connector B, which are mounted on the opposite sides of a PCB board.

10. FIG. 10 is a 3D drawing of how high-speed electrical signals coming from two OSFP transceivers Transceiver I and Transceiver II are connected through module edge card connectors, module electrical connectors Connector A and Connector B, connectors' footprints Footprint A and Footprint B, PCB traces and vias.

11. Table 1 is a table showing the pin assignments of high-speed signals and GND signals of the OSFP electrical connector's footprint Footprint A disposed on the top side of a PCB board.

12. Table 2 is a table showing the pin assignments of high-speed signals and GND signals of the OSFP electrical connector's footprint Footprint B disposed on the bottom side of a PCB board.

13. Table 3 is a table showing the Type I connections of the pads coming from the two OSFP electrical connectors' footprints Footprint A and Footprint B respectively disposed on the top side and the bottom side of a PCB board.

14. Table 4 is a table showing the Type II connections of the pads coming from the two OSFP electrical connectors' footprints Footprint A and Footprint B respectively disposed on the top side and the bottom side of a PCB board.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

1. An OSFP electrical connector's PCB footprint Footprint A on the top side of a PCB board is shown in FIG. 1 (Top View). There are 60 soldering pads in the footprint. Each pad is assigned a unique number to stand for the physical location of the pad in the footprint.

2. The OSFP electrical connector's PCB footprint Footprint A's some soldering pads are defined as high-speed signals and GND signals, and the pads' pin assignments are shown in Table 1. The numbers in the Table 1 are corresponding to Footprint A's pads' numbers and stand for the physical locations of the soldering pads in Footprint A shown in FIG. 1.

3. An OSFP electrical connector's PCB footprint Footprint B on the bottom side of a PCB board is shown in FIG. 2 (Top Transparent View). There are 60 soldering pads in the footprint. Each pad is assigned a unique number to stand for the physical location of the pad in the footprint.

4. The OSFP electrical connector's PCB footprint Footprint B's some soldering pads are defined as high-speed signals and GND signals, and the pads' pin assignments are shown in Table 2. The numbers in the Table 2 are corresponding to the Footprint B's pads' numbers and stand for the physical locations of the soldering pads in Footprint B shown in FIG. 2.

5. As shown in FIG. 3, OSFP electrical connector Connector A's footprint Footprint A is placed on the top side of a PCB board, and OSFP electrical connector Connector B's footprint Footprint B is placed on the bottom side of the same PCB board. Perpendicularly looking through transparent view from top side of the PCB board, the two footprints are aligned as the way that all adjacent pads are lined up and spaced evenly. The pads above the original numbers are from Footprint A on the top side of the PCB board, and the pads below the mirrored numbers are from Footprint B on the bottom side of the PCB board. The numbers below the pads are the corresponding pad-numbers shown in FIG. 1 and Table 1; and the numbers above the pads are the corresponding pad-numbers shown in FIG. 2 and Table 2.

6. As shown in FIG. 1 and Table 1, Footprint A has high-speed signals and GND signals, and as shown in FIG. 2 and Table 2, Footprint B also has high-speed signals and GND signals; and the connections between the high-speed signals from Footprint A and Footprint B are defined as the Type I shown in Table 3. In Table 3, the numbers in the shades of backslash lines are from Footprint A and the numbers in the shades of forward slash lines are from the Footprint B, and the numbers in the shades of horizontal lines are from Footprint A and the numbers in the shades of vertical lines are from Footprint B.

The connection mappings are as the followings:

• • Footprint A's pad 2 is connected to Footprint B's pad 29,
  • Footprint A's pad 3 is connected to Footprint B's pad 28,
  • Footprint A's pad 5 is connected to Footprint B's pad 26,
  • Footprint A's pad 6 is connected to Footprint B's pad 25,
  • Footprint A's pad 8 is connected to Footprint B's pad 23,
  • Footprint A's pad 9 is connected to Footprint B's pad 22,
  • Footprint A's pad 11 is connected to Footprint B's pad 20,
  • Footprint A's pad 12 is connected to Footprint B's pad 19;
  • Footprint A's pad 19 is connected to Footprint B's pad 12,
  • Footprint A's pad 20 is connected to Footprint B's pad 11,
  • Footprint A's pad 22 is connected to Footprint B's pad 9,
  • Footprint A's pad 23 is connected to Footprint B's pad 8,
  • Footprint A's pad 25 is connected to Footprint B's pad 6,
  • Footprint A's pad 26 is connected to Footprint B's pad 5,
  • Footprint A's pad 28 is connected to Footprint B's pad 3,
  • Footprint A's pad 29 is connected to Footprint B's pad 2;
  • Footprint A's pad 32 is connected to Footprint B's pad 59,
  • Footprint A's pad 33 is connected to Footprint B's pad 58,
  • Footprint A's pad 35 is connected to Footprint B's pad 56,
  • Footprint A's pad 36 is connected to Footprint B's pad 55,
  • Footprint A's pad 38 is connected to Footprint B's pad 53,
  • Footprint A's pad 39 is connected to Footprint B's pad 52,
  • Footprint A's pad 41 is connected to Footprint B's pad 50,
  • Footprint A's pad 42 is connected to Footprint B's pad 49;
  • Footprint A's pad 49 is connected to Footprint B's pad 42,
  • Footprint A's pad 50 is connected to Footprint B's pad 41,
  • Footprint A's pad 52 is connected to Footprint B's pad 39,
  • Footprint A's pad 53 is connected to Footprint B's pad 38,
  • Footprint A's pad 55 is connected to Footprint B's pad 36,
  • Footprint A's pad 56 is connected to Footprint B's pad 35,
  • Footprint A's pad 58 is connected to Footprint B's pad 33,
  • Footprint A's pad 59 is connected to Footprint B's pad 32.

7. As shown in FIG. 1 and Table 1, Footprint A has high-speed signals and GND signals, and as shown in FIG. 2 and Table 2, Footprint B also has high-speed signals and GND signals; and the connections between the high-speed signals from Footprint A and Footprint B are defined as the Type II shown in Table 4. In Table 4, the numbers in the shades of backslash lines are from Footprint A and the numbers in the shades of forward slash lines are from the Footprint B, and the numbers in the shades of horizontal lines are from Footprint A and the numbers in the shades of vertical lines are from Footprint B.

The connection mappings are as the followings:

• • Footprint A's pad 2 is connected to Footprint B's pad 28,
  • Footprint A's pad 3 is connected to Footprint B's pad 29,
  • Footprint A's pad 5 is connected to Footprint B's pad 25,
  • Footprint A's pad 6 is connected to Footprint B's pad 26,
  • Footprint A's pad 8 is connected to Footprint B's pad 22,
  • Footprint A's pad 9 is connected to Footprint B's pad 23,
  • Footprint A's pad 11 is connected to Footprint B's pad 19,
  • Footprint A's pad 12 is connected to Footprint B's pad 20;
  • Footprint A's pad 19 is connected to Footprint B's pad 11,
  • Footprint A's pad 20 is connected to Footprint B's pad 12,
  • Footprint A's pad 22 is connected to Footprint B's pad 8,
  • Footprint A's pad 23 is connected to Footprint B's pad 9,
  • Footprint A's pad 25 is connected to Footprint B's pad 5,
  • Footprint A's pad 26 is connected to Footprint B's pad 6,
  • Footprint A's pad 28 is connected to Footprint B's pad 2,
  • Footprint A's pad 29 is connected to Footprint B's pad 3;
  • Footprint A's pad 32 is connected to Footprint B's pad 58,
  • Footprint A's pad 33 is connected to Footprint B's pad 59,
  • Footprint A's pad 35 is connected to Footprint B's pad 55,
  • Footprint A's pad 36 is connected to Footprint B's pad 56,
  • Footprint A's pad 38 is connected to Footprint B's pad 52,
  • Footprint A's pad 39 is connected to Footprint B's pad 53,
  • Footprint A's pad 41 is connected to Footprint B's pad 49,
  • Footprint A's pad 42 is connected to Footprint B's pad 50;
  • Footprint A's pad 49 is connected to Footprint B's pad 41,
  • Footprint A's pad 50 is connected to Footprint B's pad 42,
  • Footprint A's pad 52 is connected to Footprint B's pad 38,
  • Footprint A's pad 53 is connected to Footprint B's pad 39,
  • Footprint A's pad 55 is connected to Footprint B's pad 35,
  • Footprint A's pad 56 is connected to Footprint B's pad 36,
  • Footprint A's pad 58 is connected to Footprint B's pad 32,
  • Footprint A's pad 59 is connected to Footprint B's pad 33.

8. As shown in FIG. 4, for Type I connections, each pair of mated pads defined in Table 3 are connected through length adjustable PCB traces and at least one through hole via. The pads on the top side of a PCB board and the pads on the bottom side of the PCB board are 100% overlapped in terms of top transparent view. The length adjustable PCB traces on the top side and the length adjustable PCB traces on the bottom side are uniformly symmetrical and also 100% overlapped in terms of top transparent view. Each through hole via is connected to the PCB traces on the top of the PCB and the PCB traces on the bottom of the PCB.

9. As shown in FIG. 5, for Type II connections, each pair of mated pads defined in Table 4 are connected through length adjustable PCB traces and at least one through hole via. The pads on the top side of a PCB board and the pads on the bottom side of the PCB board are 100% overlapped in terms of top transparent view. The length adjustable PCB traces on the top side and the length adjustable PCB traces on the bottom side are uniformly symmetrical in terms of top transparent view. Each through hole via is connected to the PCB traces on the top of the PCB and the PCB traces on the bottom of the PCB.

10. OSFP electrical connector Connector A's footprint Footprint A is placed on the top of a PCB board as shown in FIG. 6.

11. As shown in FIG. 7, OSFP electrical connector Connector B's footprint Footprint B is placed on the bottom side of the same PCB board shown in FIG. 6. And the two footprints Footprint A and Footprint B are aligned the way as shown in FIG. 3.

12. As shown in FIG. 8, OSFP electrical connectors Connector A and Connector B are individually soldered onto their footprints Footprint A and Footprint B, which are placed on the opposite sides of a PCB board and specially aligned as the way shown in FIG. 3.

13. As shown in FIG. 9, OSFP transceivers Transceiver I and Transceiver II are respectively plugged into their electrical connectors Connector A and Connector B, which are individually mounted on Footprint A on the top side of a PCB and Footprint B on the bottom side of the PCB board.

14. As shown in FIG. 10, the high-speed signals (shown in Table 1) from OSFP transceiver Transceiver I and the high-speed signals (shown in Table 2) from OSFP transceiver Transceiver II are directly connected electrically through Transceiver l's edge card connector, Connector A, Footprint A, PCB traces, vias, Footprint B, Connector B and Transceiver II's edge card connector in the shortest way.

Claims

1: An interposer comprising: The first OSFP electrical connector Connector A and its footprint Footprint A disposed on the top surface of a substrate, and the second OSFP electrical connector Connector B and its footprint Footprint B disposed on the bottom surface of the substrate, wherein Footprint A has 8 pairs of differential transmitting signal pads and 8 pairs of differential receiving signal pads; Footprint B also has 8 pairs of differential transmitting signal pads and 8 pairs of differential receiving signal pads. The 8 pairs of differential transmitting signal pads of Footprint A are connected to the corresponding 8 pairs of differential receiving signal pads of Footprint B; The 8 pairs of differential transmitting signal pads of Footprint B are connected to the corresponding 8 pairs of differential receiving signal pads of Footprint A. Each of the 32 pad to pad connections is implemented through length adjustable metal traces plus at least one metal plated through hole via, or through length adjustable metal traces plus at least two metal plated stacked vias or staggered vias. The length adjustable metal traces for each of the 32 pad to pad connections are further specified that the total length of all segments is in range of 0 mm to 200 mm, including 0 mm; andadditionally the length adjustable metal traces among the 16 pairs (32 pad to pad) of the connections from transmitting pads to receiving pads could be uniformly symmetrical or in different forms.

2: The OSFP electrical connector Connector A in claim 1 is compliance with OSFP electrical connector “Single Row SMT Connector” in “OSFP Module Specification Rev 4.1”.

3: The OSFP electrical connector Connector B in claim 1 is compliance with OSFP electrical connector “Single Row SMT Connector” in “OSFP Module Specification Rev 4.1”.

4: The OSFP electrical connector Connector A's footprint in claim 1 is the synonym of Host PCB layout pattern in “OSFP Module Specification Rev 4.1” and compliance with the Host PCB layout pattern in “OSFP Module Specification Rev 4.1”.

5: The OSFP electrical connector Connector B's footprint in claim 1 is the synonym of Host PCB layout pattern in “OSFP Module Specification Rev 4.1” and compliance with the Host PCB layout pattern in “OSFP Module Specification Rev 4.1”.

6: The Footprint A's pads in claim 1 is the synonym of the Host PCB layout pattern pads in “OSFP Module Specification Rev 4.1” and are compliance with the Host PCB layout pattern pads in “OSFP Module Specification Rev 4.1”.

7: The Footprint B's pads in claim 1 is the synonym of the Host PCB layout pattern pads in “OSFP Module Specification Rev 4.1” and are compliance with the Host PCB layout pattern pads in “OSFP Module Specification Rev 4.1”.

8: The 32 pad to pad connections in claim 1 are defined as Type I as the followings:Footprint A's pad 2 is connected to Footprint B's pad 29,Footprint A's pad 3 is connected to Footprint B's pad 28,Footprint A's pad 5 is connected to Footprint B's pad 26,Footprint A's pad 6 is connected to Footprint B's pad 25,Footprint A's pad 8 is connected to Footprint B's pad 23,Footprint A's pad 9 is connected to Footprint B's pad 22,Footprint A's pad 11 is connected to Footprint B's pad 20,Footprint A's pad 12 is connected to Footprint B's pad 19,Footprint A's pad 19 is connected to Footprint B's pad 12,Footprint A's pad 20 is connected to Footprint B's pad 11,Footprint A's pad 22 is connected to Footprint B's pad 9,Footprint A's pad 23 is connected to Footprint B's pad 8,Footprint A's pad 25 is connected to Footprint B's pad 6,Footprint A's pad 26 is connected to Footprint B's pad 5,Footprint A's pad 28 is connected to Footprint B's pad 3,Footprint A's pad 29 is connected to Footprint B's pad 2,Footprint A's pad 32 is connected to Footprint B's pad 59,Footprint A's pad 33 is connected to Footprint B's pad 58,Footprint A's pad 35 is connected to Footprint B's pad 56,Footprint A's pad 36 is connected to Footprint B's pad 55,Footprint A's pad 38 is connected to Footprint B's pad 53,Footprint A's pad 39 is connected to Footprint B's pad 52,Footprint A's pad 41 is connected to Footprint B's pad 50,Footprint A's pad 42 is connected to Footprint B's pad 49,Footprint A's pad 49 is connected to Footprint B's pad 42,Footprint A's pad 50 is connected to Footprint B's pad 41,Footprint A's pad 52 is connected to Footprint B's pad 39,Footprint A's pad 53 is connected to Footprint B's pad 38,Footprint A's pad 55 is connected to Footprint B's pad 36,Footprint A's pad 56 is connected to Footprint B's pad 35,Footprint A's pad 58 is connected to Footprint B's pad 33,Footprint A's pad 59 is connected to Footprint B's pad 32.

9: The 32 pad to pad connections in claim 1 also could be defined as Type II as the followings:Footprint A's pad 2 is connected to Footprint B's pad 28,Footprint A's pad 3 is connected to Footprint B's pad 29,Footprint A's pad 5 is connected to Footprint B's pad 25,Footprint A's pad 6 is connected to Footprint B's pad 26,Footprint A's pad 8 is connected to Footprint B's pad 22,Footprint A's pad 9 is connected to Footprint B's pad 23,Footprint A's pad 11 is connected to Footprint B's pad 19,Footprint A's pad 12 is connected to Footprint B's pad 20,Footprint A's pad 19 is connected to Footprint B's pad 11,Footprint A's pad 20 is connected to Footprint B's pad 12,Footprint A's pad 22 is connected to Footprint B's pad 8,Footprint A's pad 23 is connected to Footprint B's pad 9,Footprint A's pad 25 is connected to Footprint B's pad 5,Footprint A's pad 26 is connected to Footprint B's pad 6,Footprint A's pad 28 is connected to Footprint B's pad 2,Footprint A's pad 29 is connected to Footprint B's pad 3,Footprint A's pad 32 is connected to Footprint B's pad 58,Footprint A's pad 33 is connected to Footprint B's pad 59,Footprint A's pad 35 is connected to Footprint B's pad 55,Footprint A's pad 36 is connected to Footprint B's pad 56,Footprint A's pad 38 is connected to Footprint B's pad 52,Footprint A's pad 39 is connected to Footprint B's pad 53,Footprint A's pad 41 is connected to Footprint B's pad 49,Footprint A's pad 42 is connected to Footprint B's pad 50,Footprint A's pad 49 is connected to Footprint B's pad 41,Footprint A's pad 50 is connected to Footprint B's pad 42,Footprint A's pad 52 is connected to Footprint B's pad 38,Footprint A's pad 53 is connected to Footprint B's pad 39,Footprint A's pad 55 is connected to Footprint B's pad 35,Footprint A's pad 56 is connected to Footprint B's pad 36,Footprint A's pad 58 is connected to Footprint B's pad 32,Footprint A's pad 59 is connected to Footprint B's pad 33.

10: The interposer in claim 1, wherein variations or modifications without departing the spirit of the 32 pad to pad connections in claim 8 could be made to the Footprint A in claim 1 and the Footprint B in claim 1, or either Footprint A in claim 1 or Footprint B in claim 1. For example, adding extra pads, removing some pads, changing the pads' sizes or making the pads' locations offset.

11: The interposer in claim 1, wherein variations or modifications without departing the spirit of the 32 pad to pad connections in claim 9 could be made to the Footprint A in claim 1 and the Footprint B in claim 1, or either Footprint A in claim 1 or Footprint B in claim 1. For example, adding extra pads, removing some pads, changing the pads' sizes or making the pads' locations offset.

12: A platform comprising:The interposer in claim 1, wherein the OSFP electrical connector Connector A in claim 1 is soldered (or epoxied) onto the Footprint A in claim 1 and the OSFP electrical connector Connector B in claim 1 is soldered (or epoxied) onto the Footprint B in claim 1; The first OSFP transceiver module Transceiver I is plugged in the Connector A in claim 1 and the second OSFP transceiver module Transceiver II is plugged in the Connector B in claim 1.

13: The platform in claim 12 provides the method of direct (not through any ICs), cableless (without using any RF-cables) and uniform capable electrical high-speed connections for the electrical high-speed signals between the first OSFP transceiver module Transceiver I in claim 12 and the second OSFP transceiver module Transceiver II in claim 12.

14: Either the first OSFP transceiver module Transceiver I in claim 12 or the second OSFP transceiver module Transceiver II as in claim 12 does not have to be compliance with “OSFP Module Specification Rev 4.1”, and can be a Form Factor Pluggable SQA (Signal Quality Analyzer), a Form Factor Pluggable DCA (Data Communication Analyzer) or Form Factor Pluggable FEC (Forward Error Correction) Network Traffic Tester.