Patent ID: 6843606

Claim:
An optical connector module (OCM) suitable for receiving a standard format optical ferrule configured in accordance with a standard optical connector format and suitable for electrically connecting with an electrical connector configured in accordance with a standard electrical connector format, the module comprising: a module body including: a miniature form factor integrated opto-electric assembly comprising an optical sub-assembly (OSA) and chip sub-assembly (CSA) that are electrically connected to each other and configured as a single opto-electric component; wherein the OSA includes photonic devices arranged on the OSA in accordance with a standard optical connector format; an optical interface suitable for receiving and reversibly engaging the standard format optical ferrule and configured to enable optical communication between optical fibers of the ferrule and the OSA of the miniature form factor integrated opto-electric assembly wherein the optical interface is configured to receive and align optical fibers of the standard format optical ferrule with the photonic devices arranged on the OSA; an electrical interface for electrically connecting to the electrical connector and configured to enable electrical communication between the electrical connector and the CSA of the miniature form factor integrated opto-electric assembly wherein electrical connections of the electrical interface are configured in accordance with said standard electrical connector format; and wherein the module includes an alignment member suitable for receiving the optical ferrule and configured to optically couple the ferrule to the OSA so that the optical fibers held by the ferrule obtain a desired optical alignment with respect to the photonic devices arranged on the OSA, the alignment member including a fine alignment feature that facilitates a fine alignment of the ferrule with the OSA as the ferrule is urged into engagement with the optical connector module and including a coarse alignment feature which together with the fine alignment feature facilitates the alignment of the ferrule with the OSA as the ferrule is urged into engagement with the module.