In hall A4 booth 260 at the Electronica 2014 trade fair in Munich, Germany (11-14 November), Firecomms Ltd of Cork, Ireland and Tongxiang, China (which manufactures fiber-optic solutions and optical transceivers for communications networks) is demonstrating an expansion of its RedLink range of optical transmitters and receivers.
Specifically, Firecomms is expanding its range of features in the RedLink form factor. The ability to switch 20V directly from a receiver output using integrated MOSFET technology is reckoned to be a first for optical products in this component space. “Customers require lower pulse width distortion when switching 12V and 15V gate drive signals,” says Michael O’Gorman, VP of marketing. “Traditionally the rise and fall time is artificially high, as a limiting resistor is required to protect the optical receiver,” he adds. “By integrating the current-handling capacity of a MOSFET, the series resistance can be lowered, which in turn reduces pulse width distortion.”
Also on Firecomms’ list of offerings at Electronica are analog transceivers, with high-performing analog RedLink devices being a key sensor requirement in many applications. “Analog links are becoming more important in the POF [plastic optical fiber] world as the GigE solutions currently emerging from the IEEE 802.3 GEP working group are based on multi-level encoding schemes requiring highly linear POF transceivers,” says chief technology officer John Lambkin.
Firecomms is now providing in RedLink the RCLED (resonant-cavity light-emitting diode) and photodiode options previously available in its bare fiber OptoLock connector.
“Providing the same optical components in a variety of connector options enables designers to leverage the exiting qualified cable assemblies and, when appropriate, embrace new solution options such as bare POF links,” comments CEO Hsin China.
