Patent ID: 8328434

Claim:
A universal serial bus (USB) connector comprising: a housing having a top portion, a bottom portion, a front portion, and a back portion; USB electrical circuitry contained within the housing; and an optical-to-electrical/electrical-to-optical conversion module (OE module) secured within the housing, the OE module comprising: a printed circuit board (PCB) having a plurality of electrically conductive traces formed therein and having at least a first set of electrical contact pads disposed on a surface thereof, wherein at least some of the electrical contact pads of the first set are connected to at least some of the electrically conductive traces formed in the PCB; at least a first integrated circuit (IC) mounted on a surface of the PCB, the first IC having electrical leads that are electrically coupled to one or more of the electrically conductive traces of the PCB; at least a first laser diode mounted on a surface of the PCB and electrically connected to the first IC; at least a first photodiode mounted on a surface of the PCB and electrically connected to the first IC; and an optical module mounted on a surface of the PCB, the optical module having first and second receptacles formed therein for receiving ends of first and second optical fibers, respectively, the optical module including an optical element configured to couple light between the first receptacle and the first laser diode and between the second receptacle and the first photodiode; high-speed electrical contacts disposed within the housing, the high-speed electrical contacts being electrically coupled to the first set of electrical contact pads; and high-speed electrical connections contained at least partially within the housing, wherein the high-speed electrical connections are electrically coupled on first ends thereof to the high-speed electrical contacts, and wherein second ends of the high-speed electrical connections are disposed outside of the housing to enable the second ends to be electrically coupled to one or more conductive traces of a motherboard of a computer.