Patent ID: 7761010

Claim:
An optical transponder, comprising: a housing; a plurality of electrical or optical components disposed within the housing, the housing being adapted to conduct heat, at least while the optical transponder is in operation, away from the electrical or optical components; wherein the plurality of electrical or optical components comprise: an electrical-to-optical converter; and an optical-to-electrical converter; a microcontroller disposed within the housing, and adapted to communicatively interface with a device external to the housing, and to execute a software program; an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter disposed within the housing, the A/D converter having a first input terminal coupled to the electrical-to-optical converter and a second input terminal coupled to the optical-to-electrical converter and at least a first output terminal coupled to the microcontroller; a sensor disposed within the housing and electrically coupled to the A/D converter; and a memory disposed within the housing, coupled to the microcontroller, and adapted to store said software program and calibration information for at least some of the electrical or optical components.