Patent ID: 7949211

Claim:
A modular active board subassembly for communicatively coupling a waveguide array to an electrical component on a printed wiring board, the modular active board subassembly comprising: a substrate board having an attachment surface extending between an inboard edge and an outboard edge and a sidewall extending around at least a portion of a perimeter of the attachment surface forming a component cavity on the attachment surface; a transceiver disposed in the component cavity proximate the inboard edge of the substrate board, wherein the transceiver is electrically coupled to conductors on the attachment surface and the conductors are electrically coupled to electrical contacts on an upper surface of the sidewall; and at least one waveguide positioned in the component cavity and extending from the outboard edge of the substrate board to the transceiver, wherein the at least one waveguide is coupled to the transceiver, modular active board subassembly of further comprising a cover board positioned on the upper surface of the sidewall such that the component cavity is at least partially enclosed, wherein the electrical contacts of the sidewall are electrically coupled to electrical contacts positioned on a top surface of the cover board.