Optical transceiver having an interface circuit with a routing capability

Abstract

We disclose a transceiver module having two optical transceivers, each connectable to a different respective optical line, and a pluggable electrical connector that can be mated with a matching electrical connector in a connection slot of the host network device. The transceiver module also has an electrical interface circuit that can transfer data between the optical transceivers and the host network device in a manner that provides a route for transferring data between two optical transceivers without crossing the electrical connectors. This architecture advantageously enables the optical-line rates to not be limited by the electrical data rate of data transfer through the electrical connectors. In some embodiments, the transceiver module is configurable in a manner that can change the optical-line rates of the optical transceivers and/or the electrical data rate. The latter feature enables the transceiver module to be compatible with both older and newer network devices.