Samtec FireFly™ Mid-Board Optical Transceiver Solutions
Samtec offers mid-board optical transceiver solutions. This growing and comprehensive family of products delivers reliable signal integrity over an extended distance in chip-to-chip, board-to-board, system-to-system, and onboard connectivity. The designs take data connection "off the board" for up to 28Gbps per lane, with a path to 112Gbps PAM4 via optical cable at greater distances or copper for cost optimization. FireFly™ Micro Flyover System™ is an interconnect system that enables designers to use micro-footprint high-performance optical and cost-effective copper interconnects interchangeably with the same connector system.
High Density
The miniature footprint of FireFly enables greater density and closer proximity to the IC, simplifying board layout and enhancing signal integrity. Performance from 14Gbps to 28Gbps can be reached in the same footprint covering an area of only 0.63in2 for an aggregate 265Gbps/in2.
Ease of Routing
The two-piece, board-level interconnect system features a micro high-speed edge card connector and a positive-latch connector for power and control signal communications. Isolating the signal and power in this technique helps ease trace routing compared to array systems.
• UEC5 - high-speed edge card connector
○ Gen 1: up to 20Gbps
○ Gen 2: 20+Gbps
• UCC8 - positive latch connector
Ease of Assembly
The rugged two-piece edge card socket system features weld tabs, a latch locking mechanism, and loading guides. This design provides simplified mating and unmating of the cable assembly compared to compression systems, which use mechanical screw-downs and hardware.
Unlike existing optical engine-based solutions, thermal operating conditions are addressed by including an integral heat sink. The heat sink also simplifies the assembly process. Standard heat sinks are available in a range of designs, including finned, flat, and fiber-groove for multi-row configurations, for conduction or convection cooling.
Signal Integrity
By taking the data connections off the board with Samtec Flyover® cables, the signal integrity design is made considerably easier, and the electrical performance refined. Routing data above lossy board materials and other signal-degrading components negates the necessity for the layout complexities to design for high-speed signaling.
Videos
Product Overview
Product Guide
- FireFly Copper - ECUE Series
- Performance to 56Gbps
- 8 or 12 differential pairs
- 100Ω, 36AWG or 34AWG Eye Speed® twinax cable
- Variety of End 2 termination options
- Low-profile housing for space savings
- Cost-effective solution for seamless integration of new and existing designs
- Standard copper (ECUE) and PCIe®-over-FireFly copper (PCUE) assemblies
- FireFly Optical - ECUO, ETUO, PCUO, PTUO, and PCOA Series
- Performance to 28Gbps, 32Gbps in development
- x4 and x12 designs
- OM3 or OM4 multi-mode fiber
- Variety of End 2 options and heat sinks for cooling processes
- Extended -40°C to +85°C temperature range for military and industrial applications (ETUO)
- PCIe-over-fiber optical cable systems transmit 3.0/4.0 data up to 100m (PCUO), 5.0 data rate in development
- PCIe-over-fiber adapter card supports transparent and non-transparent bridging (PCOA)
- FireFly Optical Patch Cable/Adapter - OPA and FOPC Series
- MTP male or female end options
- 12 or 24 fibers
- 3m, 10m, and 100m standard cable lengths
- 3mm round jacketed cable
- Single- or double-port adapter
- Keying options for proper alignment
- FireFly Edge Card Socket Assembly - UEC5 Series
- Performance up to 20Gbps (UEC5), 20+Gbps (UEC5-2)
- Rugged Edge Rate® contact system
- Low-profile, right-angle design
- Available in 19 positions
- Selective gold-plated contacts
- Standard alignment pins and surface-mount tails
- PCB footprints are not interchangeable for UEC5-1 and UEC5-2 data rate versions
- FireFly Positive Latching Receptacle - UCC8 Series
- Power and low-speed control signal communications
- Available in 10 positions
- Selective gold-plated contacts
- Standard alignment pins and weld tabs
- Part of a 2-piece connector set for FireFly optical and copper systems
Development Tools
- FireFly REF-209623-01 Eval Kit
- Easy-to-use solution for testing FireFly Micro Flyover Systems
- Up to 28Gbps per lane in x4 and x12 configurations
- Real-time evaluation of actively running copper or optical FireFly system in labs
- High-quality system with robust optical, electrical, and mechanical design
- FireFly REF-193429-01 Dev Kit
- VITA 57.1 FMC solution
- Up to 140Gbps full-duplex bandwidth over 10 channels, from FPGA to industry-standard multi-mode fiber optic cable
- Adjustable power levels support up to 100m cable lengths
- Can be used for optical data communication on FPGA developmental boards supporting high-speed multi-gigabit transceivers
- Can run system data or BERT testing on all channels in parallel to simplify evaluation and development with FPGA
- FireFly REF-200772-28G-16-01 Dev Kit
- VITA 57.4 FMC+ solution
- Up to 400/448Gbps full-duplex bandwidth over 16 channels, from FPGA to industry-standard multi-mode fiber optic cable
- Adjustable power levels to support cable lengths up to 100m
- Can be used for optical data communication on any FPGA development board supporting high-speed multi-gigabit transceivers
- Can also run system data or BERT testing on all channels in parallel