Patent ID: 7079778

Claim:
A shock-resistant system for operatively interconnecting circuit cards within a computer system to enable data to be transmitted and received therebetween comprising: a) a common backplane having a plurality of circuit card connectors disposed in spaced apart relation thereon for supporting circuit cards in a generally upright parallel relationship; b) a plurality of circuit cards, each of said circuit cards being mounted to one of said circuit card connectors, each of said circuit cards having a transmitter LED and a receiver photodiode formed thereon; c) a plurality of optical pathways formed solely through air between said circuit cards, the optical pathways forming a plurality of independent optical connections between said transmitter LED on at least one of said circuit cards and said receiver photodiodes on any two of said circuit cards; and d) wherein said circuit cards are maintained in fixed relationship to one another via said common backplane to maintain continuous optical intercard communications between each of said circuit cards such that the LED on each circuit card is operative to generate and transmit a signal, and the photodiode of one corresponding circuit card is operative to receive the signal through the corresponding optical pathway.