WO2010149445A1

WO2010149445A1 - Optical module and installation method

Info

Publication number: WO2010149445A1
Application number: PCT/EP2010/057155
Authority: WO
Inventors: Laurent Dellmann; Stefano Oggioni; Bert Offrein
Original assignee: International Business Machines Corporation; Compagnie Ibm France
Priority date: 2009-06-24
Filing date: 2010-05-25
Publication date: 2010-12-29

Abstract

An optical module (110) is provided comprising a flexible substrate (100), which may either itself be transparent, or may comprise a window in which a transparent optical bench (131) is mounted. An optical transducer (111) is mounted on a portion of the substrate or said optical bench, and a beam deflector arrangement is mounted on another portion of the substrate or said optical bench so. The flexible substrate comprises electrical contacts coupled to the optical transducer, the foregoing elements all being configured and positioned such that when the electrical contacts are brought into contact with corresponding contacts in a suitable mounting surface, the flexible substrate may be bent away from the mounting surface to situate the beam deflector in clear space, whereupon the optical transducer in operation may transmit an optical signal through the substrate or optical bench to the beam deflector. According to preferred embodiments, a plurality of optical transducers are situated on the same flexible substrate, so that but folding said substrate concertina fashion each of said transducers can be situated in clear space away from said mounting surface, whilst correctly establishing electronic contact therewith.

Description

OPTICAL MODULE AND INSTALLATION METHOD

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to the coupling of electronic circuit boards to optical interconnects and in particular optical modules to a framework.

Background of the invention

Optical transmission of data offers numerous advantages over transmission by conventional electrical means in terms of data rate, resistance to interference and space saving. On the other hand, the use of optical transmission imposes significant constraints in terms of the geometrical disposition of its components, for example with regard to their alignment and spacing with respect to each other and to other components of the system in which they are integrated. These constraints raise difficulties when manufacturing, maintaining or repairing such systems, and it is desirable to design optical modules that may be installed or replaced as simply as possible. A number of arrangements partially addressing such matters are known in the prior art. EPl 944634 discloses a system and method of optically coupling a plurality of electronic circuit boards comprising a series of holding members for holding a plurality of circuit boards with a predetermined distance between the circuit boards and providing an optical communication path between the circuit boards, wherein the first, the second, the third and the fourth holding members have a common configuration, being adapted for connecting any of the holding members to any of the holding members while holding the circuit board there between, and being adapted for optically connecting an end face of the optical waveguide of any of the holding members to an end face of the optical waveguide of any of the holding members.

US20070230152 discloses a system and method of optically coupling a plurality of electronic circuit boards comprising a shelf for receiving a plurality of electronic circuit boards, the electronic circuit boards having a structure where a connecter installing part is provided at a front end part of each of the boards and an optical transmitting and receiving element for optical communications between two or more of the electronic circuit boards is provided at a rear end part of each of the boards, the shelf co. The shelf may have a relay member having windows formed as corresponding to positions of optical transmitting and receiving elements of the electronic circuit boards." US7252439 discloses a system and method of optically coupling the plurality of electronic circuit boards in a blade-type optical transmission apparatus. In particular,, a HS (high speed) shelf, an XC (cross-connect) shelf, and an LS (low speed) shelf, which correspond to the functional modules of a divided-shelf type or a single-shelf type, are each implemented as a system LSI, and are mounted on a circuit board to provide blades (main signal blades) 10-14. The HS shelf is capable of inputting/outputting a 40-Gbps signal, for example, and the LS shelf is capable of inputting/outputting a 10- Gbps signal, for example. Moreover, the blades 10- 14 are not limited to the construction having the three system LSIs, and may be provided with a single system LSI, for example. The main signal blades 10-14 are coupled together through a ring connection via optical waveguides provided on the back plane 15, and are enclosed with high density inside a blade enclosure 16, thereby achieving a super-micro blade-type optical transmission apparatus.

US6748153 discloses a system and method of optically coupling the plurality of electronic circuit boards, comprising an optical fiber system that enables direct board- to-board optical communication that does not require data transmission through the backplane. In accordance with this inventive optical fiber system, a positioner is configured to urge opposite ends of two or more optical fibers respectively toward opposed optical devices that are coupled to facing sides of adjacent printed circuit boards coupled to a common backplane." The article entitled "Bi-directional optical backplane bus for general purpose multiprocessor board-to-board optoelectronic interconnects, which is available from http://chen-server.mer.utexas.edu/GroupPapers/63.pdf discloses a system and method of optically coupling the plurality of electronic circuit boards using a bidirectional optical backplane bus for a high performance system containing nine multi-chip module (MCM) boards, operating at 632.8 and 1300 nm. The backplane bus reported here employs arrays of multiplexed polymer-based waveguide holograms in conjunction with a waveguiding plate, within which 16 substrate guided waves for 72 (8^χ9) cascaded fanouts, are generated. Data transfer of 1.2 Gbt/s at 1.3-μm wavelength is demonstrated for a single bus line with 72 cascaded fanouts. Packaging-related issues such as transceiver size and misalignment are embarked upon to provide a reliable system with a wide bandwidth coverage. Theoretical treatment to minimize intensity fluctuations among the nine modules in both directions is further presented and an optimum design rule is provided. The backplane bus demonstrated, is for general- purpose and therefore compatible with such IEEE standardized buses as VMEbus, Futurebus and FASTBUS, and can function as a backplane bus in existing computing environments"

US7120327 discloses a system and method of optically coupling the plurality of electronic circuit boards comprising a backplane with board to board signal wiring and a shared optical bus; a plurality of circuit boards with electronic components mounted thereon attached to said backplane; a plurality of optical jumpers, each of said plurality of optical jumpers optically coupling one of said plurality of boards to said backplane; and an optical transceiver at each end of each optical jumper relaying optical signals from said optical jumpers to a respective one of said backplane or one of said plurality of boards."

The article entitled "Optical backplane system using waveguide-embedded PCBs and optical slots" published in the Journal of Lightwave Technology, Volume 22, Issue 9, Sep 2004, Pg. 2119- 2127 discloses a system and method of optically coupling the plurality of electronic circuit boards using a waveguide-embedded optical backplane board, processing boards, and optical slots for board-to-board interconnection. A metal optical bench was used as a packaging die for the optical devices and the integrated circuit chips in both the transmitter and the receiver processing boards. The polymer waveguide was produced by means of a hot-embossing technique and was then embedded following a conventional lamination processes. The average propagation loss of these waveguides was approximately 0.1 dB/cm at 850 nm. The dimension and optical properties of the waveguide in an optical backplane board were unchanged after lamination. As connection components between transmitter/receiver processing boards and an optical backplane board, optical slots were used for easy and repeatable insertion and extraction of the boards with a micrometer-scale precision. A 1x4 850-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser array was used with 2 dBm of output power for the transmitter and a p-i-n photodiode array for the receiver. This paper successfully demonstrates 8 Gb/s of data transmission between the transmitter processing board and the optical backplane board US7367715 describes an optical transducer assembly. The module contains an electrical interface for assembly onto a printed circuit board, electrical components and an electro-optical transducer element as well as an optical interface. More generally, it is conventional to plug rigid daughter boards for example bearing electro- optical components into a socket on a mother board, using standard copper conductors and connectors which often require up to IOON for insertion. These are difficult to handle in the field and limited in the speed they can achieve once mounted into the system.

Summary of the invention

According to the present invention there is provided a method of connecting a component to a backplaneaccording to the appended independent claim 1 , a component according to the appended independent claim 3. Preferred embodiments are defined in the appended dependent claims 2 and 4 to 9.

Further advantages of the present invention will become clear to the skilled person upon examination of the drawings and detailed description. It is intended that any additional advantages be incorporated herein.

Brief description of the drawings

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like references denote similar elements, and in which:

Figure 1 shows a plan view of an optical transducer assembly such as may be used certain embodiments described herein, in a functional configuration. Figure 2 shows a first embodiment of the present invention in a first configuration. Figure 3 shows a first embodiment of the present invention in a second configuration.

Figure 4 shows a first embodiment of the present invention in a third configuration.

Figure 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention in a first configuration.

Figure 6 shows a second embodiment of the present invention in a second configuration.

Figure 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention in a third configuration.

Figure 8 shows a second embodiment of the present invention in a fourth configuration.

Figure 9 shows a first configuration, whereby the beam deflector 161 is disposed directly on the substrate.

Figure 10 shows a second configuration, whereby the beam deflector 161 is disposed directly on the substrate comprising a window.

Figure 11 shows a third configuration, whereby the beam deflector 161 is disposed directly on the optical bench 131, which is supported by the substrate on the beam deflector side.

Figure 12 shows a fourth configuration, whereby the beam deflector 161 is disposed directly on the optical bench 131, which is supported by the substrate on the optical transducer side. Figure 13 shows an example of one possible layout of components on the substrate prior to folding.

Detailed description

According to certain embodiments, there is provided a component comprising a substrate having disposed thereon an optical transducer, and a first electronic contact coupled to said transducer, wherein said substrate is flexible such that it may be bent along a predetermined axis thereof. By this means, the component may be installed in a system by connection to a substrate, and the optical module bent away from the substrate to a desired position. Figure 1 shows a plan view of an optical transducer assembly such as may be used in certain embodiments described herein, in a functional configuration.

As shown there is provided an optical transducer such as a vertical-cavity surface- emitting laser (VCSEL) 110 further comprising a thermal interface 111. The optical transducer 110 is mounted on an optical bench 131, and as shown on the side of the substrate opposite that on which the optical transducer 110 is mounted, and through which the optical signal generated by the VCSEL, indicated by a dotted line, is transmitted, to be reflected along an axis parallel to plane of the optical bench 131 by a beam deflector 161. The thermal interface 111 may mate with the heatsink as described hereafter, the Vcsel 110 may be mounted directly to the flexible optical bench or on the flexible substrate mated then with the optical bench 131

Figure 2 shows a first embodiment of the present invention in a first configuration. As shown in figure 2 there is provided a component comprising a substrate 100 having disposed on one side thereof a beam deflector 161 and on the other side thereof an optical transducer 111, and a first electronic contact 171 coupled to said transducer, wherein said substrate 100 is flexible. The electronic contact may use any electrically conducting material such as copper for its electrical connections. Furthermore the module preferably has an optical connection and a thermal connection.

Figure 3 shows a first embodiment of the present invention in a second configuration. As shown in figure 3 the substrate 100 of the component of figure 1 is flexible, so that the substrate may be mechanically deformed so as to be bent at least along a predetermined axis which as shown is substantially orthogonal to the plane of the page, and passes through the point marked with an x 101, where the optical transducer is situated on one side of said axis, and the first electronic contact is situated on the other side of the axis, so that when the substrate is bent the optical transducer and the first electronic contact are situated in two different planes.

The substrate is preferably flexible to an extent that it may be bent through an angle of at least 45° without breaking. Still more preferably The substrate is preferably flexible to an extent that it may be bent through an angle of at least 60° without breaking. Still more preferably the substrate is preferably flexible to an extent that it may be bent through an angle of at least 90° without breaking. Still more preferably the substrate is preferably flexible to an extent that it may be bent through an angle of at least 120° without breaking.

The substrate is preferably flexible to an extent that it may be bent such that the inner surface thereof describes an arc of a circle whose radius is not more than three times the thickness of the substrate. The substrate is more preferably flexible to an extent that it may be bent such that the inner surface thereof describes an arc of a circle whose radius is less than the thickness of the substrate. The substrate is still more preferably flexible to an extent that it may be bent such that the inner surface thereof describes an arc of a circle whose radius is less than half of the thickness of the substrate.

Industry recommendation for thin flexible substrates recommend to keep the max bending radius >6 times thickness of flex even if it possible to have lower radius than that but the Elongation on the outer side of the cable is becoming critical. This is not a concern if the flexible substrate conf. carriers copper only in the inner side of the substrate in the bending area and double side copper elsewhere.

The substrate is preferably flexible to an extent that bending along the predetermined axis through an angle of 45° requires the expenditure of less than 500 Joules of energy. The substrate is more preferably flexible to an extent that bending along the predetermined axis through an angle of 45° requires the expenditure of less than 200 Joules of energy. The substrate is still more preferably flexible to an extent that bending along the predetermined axis through an angle of 45° requires the expenditure of less than 100 Joules of energy.

Figure 4 shows a first embodiment of the present invention in a third configuration. In this configuration the component becomes functionally equivalent to that of figure 1. As shown in figure 4 the component of figures 2 and 3 may be installed on a backplane in a system by connection to a substrate, and the optical module bent away from the substrate to a desired position to a backplane 240 comprising a second electrical connection 281 arranged thereon. Thus as shown the substrate 100 has been bent through a right angle, with the section thereof comprising the first electronic contact 171 flush with said backplane and said first electronic contact 171 forming an electrical connection with said second electrical connection. Furthermore, the section of the substrate bearing the transducer is at right angles to the backplane, so as to maintain the transducer at a predetermined position with respect to the back plane, and in particular the second electronic contact. Thus preferably the optical transducer is mounted is oriented orthogonally to the part of said substrate upon which the respective said electrical connection coupled thereto is disposed. Thus the substrate has disposed thereon a plurality of optical transducers, and a plurality of said first electronic contacts, each said first electronic contact being coupled to a respective said transducer, each said first electronic contact being disposed linearly along said substrate and at a predetermined distance each from the next, and each said first optical transducer being disposed linearly along said substrate and at a predetermined distance each from the next. There is accordingly described a method of connecting an optical module as described above comprising the steps of bringing a first electrical connection into contact with a second electrical connection; and mechanically deforming the substrate by bending along a predetermined axis thereof through a predetermined angle so as to distance said optical transducer from said backplane to a predetermined position.

The flexible substrate may be formed of any plastically or elastically deformable material. Preferably the substrate is formed of a dielectric material. In a case where the substrate is formed of a material exhibiting elastic properties, there may be provided other substantially rigid elements to ensure that the substrate remains in the correct configuration with respect to the back plane, and in particular the second electronic contact once installed. These substantially rigid elements may be attached to the backplane thereby forming a complex surface to which the substrate conforms, or may be attached to the substrate itself, so that its flexibility is limited to certain regions thereof. Still further, only a predetermined part section of the substrate need be flexible, and the other parts of the substrate may be formed of relatively rigid materials, or be reinforced so as not to bend. According to certain preferred embodiments, support is provided by an optical bench as described herein. Figure 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention in a first configuration.

As shown in figure 5 the substrate 100 has disposed thereon a plurality of optical transducers 111, 112, 113 a respective plurality of beam deflectors 161, 162, 163, and a respective plurality of said first electronic contacts 171, 172, 173, each said first electronic contact 171, 172 being coupled to a respective said transducer 111, 112. Each said first electronic contact 171, 172 is disposed linearly along said substrate preferably at a predetermined distance each from the next, and each said beam deflector is disposed linearly along said substrate preferably at a predetermined distance each from the next. Furthermore, a plurality of apertures 151, 152, 153 are formed in said substrate, an aperture being provided for each beam deflector 161, 162, 163. The apertures are situated along the substrate in positions such that when the substrate is folded as described hereafter each beam deflector fits through a respective aperture.

Where each first optical transducer is disposed linearly along said substrate at a predetermined distance each from the next, the respective apertures are similarly disposed linearly along said substrate at that same predetermined distance each from the next. In accordance with this embodiment each optical transducer is associated with a optical bench 131, 132.

Accordingly there is provided a method of connecting a component to a circuit board or to a backplane, or to another structure belonging to a different transmission media existing into a System or Networks' hierarchical structure, according to the appended independent claim 1, a component according to the appended independent claim 3. Preferred embodiments are defined in the appended dependent claims 2 and 4 to 9.

As shown in figure 6 the substrate 100 is folded in a concertina fashion so that each beam deflector 161, 162, 163 fits into a respective aperture 151, 152, 153 in a facing section of the substrate. An upper bend in each section of substrate fits around the end of a respective optical bench 131, 132. A lower bend in each section comprises the first electronic contact of each respective optical transducer.

The backplane 240 comprises respective second electronic contacts 281, 282, 283, where a number of second electronic contacts is provided equal to the number of first electronic contacts provided on said substrate.

As shown, the substrate has been bent so as to describe as nearly as possible a series of right angled bends, so that there is described as sequence of upright sections comprising two thicknesses of substrate bent around the optical benches which each stand at right angles to the backplane, and spaced regularly along it. The beam deflectors mounted on the section of substrate on one side of each optical bench each fit through respective apertures provided in the substrate on the opposite side of the same optical bench. The first electrical contact coupled to each optical transducer is connected to a respective second electrical connector on the backplane.

As shown in figure 8, the substrate and backplane are configured as in figure 7. There are however provided a plurality of heat sink elements 491, 492, each filling the gap between two adjacent upright sections comprising two thicknesses of substrate bent around the reinforcement plates which each stand at right angles to the backplane. Each heat sink element as shown comprises a contact surface 4911, 4921, 4931. Each heat sink is dimensioned so as to fit into the gap between two adjacent upright sections with its contact surface flush with the thermal interface surfaces 110, 120, 130 of the optical transducers 111, 121, 131 respectively. Each heat sink element as shown comprises a beam cavity 4933, 4923, 4913 on the opposite side to the contact surface. Each heat sink is dimensioned so as to fit into the gap between two adjacent upright sections with a beam deflector 161,162,163 extending into the beam cavity. As shown each heat sink further comprises dissipative surface features 4931, 4921, 4911 intended to improve the heat sinks ability to transfer heat energy to the nearby environment. There is accordingly described a method of connecting an optical module as described above comprising the steps of bringing each said first electrical connection into contact with a respective said second electrical connection, mechanically deforming said substrate by bending along a respective predetermined axis thereof through a predetermined angle so as to distance said optical transducer from said backplane to a predetermined position.

While according to the second embodiment the backplane 240 comprises a number of second electronic contacts is provided equal to the number of first electronic contacts provided on said substrate, it may equally be envisaged that the backplane comprise a greater number of second electronic contacts than the number of first electronic contacts provided on said substrate, with a view to providing second electronic contacts for further substrates according to the present invention or otherwise. Furthermore it may be envisaged that the backplane comprise a lesser number of second electronic contacts than the number of first electronic contacts provided on said substrate, whereby certain components on a substrate may not be coupled to the backplane, being electronically connected by other means, or simply left unconnected.

Thus said optical transducer is configured so as to protrude from one side of said substrate, and wherein there is further provided an optical bench on one side of said substrate through which said optical transducer may transmit a light signal.

A number of different configurations of the various elements of the component for example as shown in figure 7 may be envisaged.

Figure 9 shows a first configuration, whereby the beam deflector 161 is disposed directly on the substrate. Where this configuration is adopted, the optical transducer 110 must transmit its signal through the substrate to the beam deflector. Figure 10 shows a second configuration, whereby the beam deflector 161 is disposed directly on the substrate comprising a window. As shown there is provided a small window in the substrate, through which the optical transducer 110 transmits its optical signal to the beam deflector. This approach opens the possibility of using materials for the substrate which would interfere with or otherwise degrade the transmitted signal if used in the configuration of figure 8.

Figure 11 shows a third configuration, whereby the beam deflector 161 is disposed directly on the optical bench 131, which is supported by the substrate on the beam deflector side. As shown, the substrate is folded over on the same side of the optical bench, rather than the opposite side as described with respect to figures 9 and 10. Thus as shown the substrate comprises two apertures which coincide when the substrate is folded in the correct manner, and through which the beam diffuser protrudes in the final configuration.

Figure 12 shows a fourth configuration, whereby the beam deflector 161 is disposed directly on the optical bench 131, which is supported by the substrate on the optical transducer side. As shown, the substrate is folded over on the same side of the optical bench, rather than the opposite side as described with respect to figures 9 and 10. Thus as shown the substrate comprises two apertures which coincide when the substrate is folded in the correct manner, and through which the optical transducer protrudes in the final configuration. Folding of the substrate in these two last configurations may be also a representation of a more complex substrate which replaces the folding with a more complex layers structure, wherein there is a substrate made of multiple layers of dielectric and conductive media.

It will be appreciated that where the approach of figure 9 is adopted, the beam deflector and the optical transducer may be situated on the same side of the substrate, and brought into contact in the functional configuration when the substrate is folded. Figure 13 shows an example of one possible layout of components on the substrate prior to folding. As shown in figure 13 there is provided a component comprising a substrate 100 having disposed on one side thereof a beam deflector 561 and on the same side of the substrate, an optical transducer 112, and a first electronic contact 171 coupled to said transducer, wherein said substrate 100 is flexible. By folding the substrate so that the two sides without components are broach together, the functional configuration can be obtained. It will be appreciated that the steps of bringing the or each first electrical connection into contact with a respective second electrical connection, and of mechanically deforming said substrate may be carried out in any order, and further more that the process of mechanically deforming may be partially carried out before said step of bringing the or each first electrical connection into contact with a respective second electrical connection, and partially carried out during and/ or after that step.

The approach described above is advantageous in that in facilitates the manufacture and fitting of optical transducers, especially where more than one transducer is to be fitted. a substrate may be a continuous web upon which a large number of transducer

Although as described above each optical bench is shown driving a single optical transceiver, each optical bench may advantageously bear a plurality of optical transceivers.

Any component may handle optical media other than glass fibres, such as optical polymer waveguides for example which may be provided over a flexible substrate.

The substrate as described with regard to any of the foregoing embodiments may comprise a complex substrate having a layered structure, wherein there is a substrate made of multiple layers of dielectric and conductive media.

There may be provided an electro-optical transceiver array able to handle multiple clusters of optical benches which are each driving bundles of fibres. A number of such arrays may in turn be grouped together. Such arrays and groups of arrays address an existing problem in the integration of higher bandwidth between blades for new generation of Blade servers.

According to a further embodiment, an optical module is provided comprising a flexible substrate, which may either itself be transparent, or may comprise a window in which a transparent optical bench is mounted. An optical transducer is mounted on a portion of the substrate or said optical bench, and a beam deflector arrangement is mounted on another portion of the substrate or said optical bench so. The flexible substrate comprises electrical contacts coupled to the optical transducer, the foregoing elements all being configured and positioned such that when the electrical contacts are brought into contact with corresponding contacts in a suitable mounting surface, the flexible substrate may be bent away from the mounting surface to situate the beam deflector in clear space, whereupon the optical transducer in operation may transmit an optical signal through the substrate or optical bench to the beam deflector. According to preferred embodiments, a plurality of optical transducers are situated on the same flexible substrate, so that but folding said substrate concertina fashion each of said transducers can be situated in clear space away from said mounting surface, whilst correctly establishing electronic contact therewith.

The invention can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment containing both hardware and software elements. In a preferred embodiment, the invention is implemented in software, which includes but is not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.

Furthermore, the invention can take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system, for example taking the form of instructions in a CNC, CAM or other partially or wholly automated manufacturing process. For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer readable medium can be any apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk - read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk - read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD. A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing program code will include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage during execution.

Input/output or I/O devices (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the system either directly or through intervening I/O controllers.

Network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable the data processing system to become coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or storage devices through intervening private or public networks. Modems, cable modem and Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently available types of network adapters.

Claims

1. A method of connecting a component comprising a substrate having disposed thereon an optical module comprising an optical transducer, and a first electronic contact coupled to said module to a backplane comprising a second electrical contact,

said method comprising the steps of:

bringing said first electrical contact into electrical connection with said second electrical contact; and, mechanically deforming said substrate by bending along a predetermined axis thereof through a predetermined angle so as to distance said optical module from said backplane to a predetermined position.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said substrate has disposed thereon a plurality of modules, and a plurality of said first electronic contacts, each said first electronic contact being coupled to a respective said module, each said first electronic contact being disposed linearly along said substrate and at a predetermined distance each from the next, and each said first optical module being disposed linearly along said substrate and at a predetermined distance each from the next,

and said backplane comprises a plurality of second electrical connections arranged linearly along said backplane, of equal number to said plurality of first electrical connections

and wherein said method comprises the steps of

bringing each said first electrical connection into contact with a respective said second electrical connection, mechanically deforming said substrate by bending along a respective predetermined axis thereof through a predetermined angle so as to distance said optical module from said backplane.

3. A component comprising a substrate having disposed thereon an optical module comprising an optical transducer, and a first electronic contact coupled to said optical module, wherein said substrate may be mechanically deformed by bending along a predetermined axis thereof through an angle greater than 45° through the expenditure of less than 100 Joules of energy.

4. The component of claim 3, wherein said substrate has disposed thereon a plurality of optical modules, and a plurality of said first electronic contacts, each said first electronic contact being coupled to a respective said module, each said first electronic contact being disposed linearly along said substrate and at a predetermined distance each from the next, and each said first optical module being disposed linearly along said substrate and at a predetermined distance each from the next,

wherein said substrate may be mechanically deformed by bending along each of a plurality of parallel predetermined axis thereof through an angle greater than 45° through the expenditure of less than 100 Joules of energy for each said axis.

5. The component of claim 3 or 4 wherein said angle is a right angle, such that a part of said substrate upon which said optical module is mounted is oriented orthogonally to the part of said substrate upon which the respective said electrical contact coupled thereto is disposed.

6. The component of any of claims 3 to 5 wherein each said optical module is further thermally coupled with a heat sink, said heat sink being formed to receive at least a part of said optical module.

7. The component of any of any of claims 3 to 6 wherein said optical module is configured so as to protrude from one side of said substrate, and wherein said optical module further comprises an optical bench on the opposite side of said substrate to the side from which said optical module protrudes, through which said optical transducer may transmit an optical signal.

8. The component any of claims 3 to 7 wherein each said optical module comprises a plurality of optical transducers.

9. The component of claim 8 wherein each said optical module comprises an optical bench upon which at least a part of each of the one or more said optical transducers comprised in said optical module is mounted.