Patent ID: 8200094

Claim:
A Free Space Optical (FSO) connector having an optical alignment system, the connector comprising: an electrical connector having a plurality of contacts for engaging an electronics circuit card connector; an FSO optical module having an adjustable mirror and an adjustable lens for focusing optical signals associated with a first link, and at least two optic ports for transceiving optical signals via free space; a translation module having a connector interface connected to the electrical connector and an optical interface connected to FSO module, the translation module converting electrical signals received via the electrical connector and transferred as optical signals via the optical interface, and converting optical signals received via the optical interface and transferred as electrical signals via the electrical connector; a controller aligning the first link at a first baud rate and a second baud rate, faster than the first baud rate, by setting the lens to an initial wide beam dispersion mode, setting the mirror to an initial position angle, optimizing first baud rate optical communications by iteratively adjusting the mirror and narrowing the lens focus, and optimizing second baud rate optical communications by iteratively adjusting the mirror and narrowing the lens focus; and, wherein the controller chooses a link for alignment based upon a predetermined priority scheme, where the link is selected from a group consisting of a receiver channel and a transmitter channel, and subsequent to optimizing optical communications for the selected link, aligns the unselected link.