Patent ID: 8041160

Claim:
A parallel optical communications device comprising: a circuit board, the circuit board having an upper surface and a lower surface and one or more electrical conductors therein, the circuit board having at least one integrated circuit (IC) mounted on the upper surface of the circuit board at a first mounting location of the circuit board; a mounting core comprising a substantially rigid thermally conductive material to enable the mounting core to function as both a heat dissipation structure and as a mounting structure, the mounting core having an upper surface and a lower surface, the lower surface of the mounting core being attached at one or more locations thereof to one or more locations on the upper surface of the circuit board, the lower surface of the mounting core having a cutaway area formed therein where a portion of the mounting core beneath the upper surface of the mounting core is absent so that the at least one IC mounted on the upper surface of the circuit board is disposed within the cutaway area beneath the upper surface of the mounting core; at least a first core IC mounted on the upper surface of the mounting core at a first mounting location of the mounting core; a plurality of active optical devices mounted on the upper surface of the mounting core at a second mounting location of the mounting core, the core IC mounted on the upper surface of the mounting core being electrically connected to at least a plurality of the active optical devices to allow the core IC to control operations of the active optical devices to which the core IC is connected, and wherein at least some heat generated by one or both of the core IC and the active optical devices passes into the mounting core, and wherein at least some of the heat that passes into the mounting core is dissipated by the mounting core; and an optics subsystem comprising a plurality of optical elements for directing light between respective ones of the active optical devices and respective ends of respective optical waveguides.