Patent ID: 8559824

Claim:
A parallel optical transceiver module for simultaneously transmitting multiple optical signals over multiple respective optical transmit channels, the optical transceiver module comprising: a circuit board comprising a substrate having an upper surface and a lower surface, the upper and lower surfaces having electrical conductors disposed thereon, wherein at least some of the electrical conductors disposed on the upper surface are electrically connected with at least some of the electrical conductors disposed on the lower surface; a leadframe mounted on the upper surface of the circuit board, the leadframe comprising an electrically conductive material; a laser diode integrated circuit (IC) chip mounted on the leadframe, the laser diode IC chip comprising N laser diodes configured to generate N respective optical signals, wherein N is an integer that is equal to or greater than 2; a first laser diode driver IC chip mounted on the leadframe, the first laser driver IC chip having driver circuitry configured to drive L of the N laser diodes, wherein L is an integer that is less than N and greater than or equal to 1; a second laser diode driver IC chip mounted on the leadframe, the second laser driver IC chip having driver circuitry configured to drive M of the N laser diodes, wherein M is an integer that less than N and greater than or equal to 1; a first set of conductors for delivering electrical laser diode driving signals from the first laser diode driver IC chip to the laser diode IC chip, each of the conductors of the first set having a first end that is connected to respective electrical contacts on the first laser diode driver IC chip and a second end that is connected to respective electrical contacts on the laser diode IC chip; and a second set of conductors for delivering electrical laser diode driving signals from the second laser diode driver IC chip to the laser diode IC chip, each of the conductors of the second set having a first end that is connected to a respective electrical contact on the second laser diode driver IC chip and a second end that is connected to a respective electrical contact on the laser diode IC chip, wherein the laser diode IC chip is located in between the first and second laser diode driver IC chips such that a first side of each of the first and second laser diode driver IC chips is proximate to first and second sides, respectively, of the laser diode IC chip to provide a symmetrical arrangement of the first and second laser diode driver IC chips relative to the laser diode IC chip, and wherein the leadframe has at least first and second slots that have been formed therein by removing portions of the electrically conductive material of the leadframe, the slots passing entirely through the leadframe from an upper surface of the leadframe through a lower surface of the leadframe, and wherein the first and second slots are located in between the first sides of the first and second laser diode driver IC chips and the first and second sides, respectively, of the laser diode IC chip.