A fiber-optic module is a component that is used to connect a fiber-optic cable to an electronic device. There are a number of different parts of a fiber-optic module, and different modules are designed with different specifications. The parts of the module are attached to a board which can be installed as a single unit in an electronic device.
The basic parts of a fiber-optic module include a transceiver, a place for the fiber-optic cable to connect to the module, and a place for the module to connect to the electronic device in which it is being installed. A basic input/output system (BIOS), which is a small computer chip, is standard in a fiber-optic module. The BIOS allows the module to identify its components and transmit information back and forth between the module and the electronic device.
The components of the fiber-optic module are located on a board, and in most electronics designed for personal use, this board is relatively small and easily installed by a computer engineer. More sophisticated electronics with many fiber-optic connections may require larger and more complex fiber-optic modules that allow them to connect to many different fiber-optic cables at once. Some modules also come with activity lights, that show the system owner when the module is active and what it is doing. This can be a useful tool for monitoring the performance of a fiber-optic module.
Different types of fiber-optic modules attach to electronic devices in different ways. The module can be plugged into the board or soldered onto a board’s optical line. The connection between the fiber-optic module and the fiber-optic cable can also come in a number of different shapes, depending on the specifications of the plug on the end of the cable.
Though there are a number of different companies that design modules, the design is basically the same from one module to the next. In order to make sure that the devices can connect with a variety of electronics and fiber-optic cables, many modules have a multi-source agreement. This means that the mechanical, physical and thermal components of the module do not affect the way that optical information enters and exits the module.