Enhanced optical module cooling with angled fins
An optical module, such as a Quad Small Form Factor (QSFP) or variant thereof, or another type of module, includes a housing; an optical subassembly positioned within the housing at an angle relative to the housing; circuitry connected to the optical subassembly; and heat fins located on and in contact with the housing, wherein the heat fibers are positioned near the optical subassembly. The angling of the optical subassembly supports improved thermal performance, i.e., larger heat fin area at locations due to the angle, and eliminates any bend radius issues on fibers exiting the optical subassembly.
1 . An optical module comprising:
a housing of the optical module, the housing enclosing internal components of the optical module and being configured to be inserted as a unit into a host device;
an optical subassembly positioned within the housing and within a nose portion of the housing at an acute angle relative to a plane of a printed circuit board disposed within the housing;
the printed circuit board comprising circuitry connected to the optical subassembly; and
heat fins disposed on an exterior surface of the nose portion of the housing over the optical subassembly,
wherein the heat fins have respective heights that increase with distance from a faceplate of the housing toward a middle portion of the housing such that tips of the heat fins define a generally common plane.
2 . The optical module of claim 1 , wherein a top of the heat fins is flat relative to one another and in a same plane as one another, and wherein, due to the angle, the heat fins have a different length extending downward to the housing near the optical subassembly, such that the different length is based on a location of a given heat fin and the angle, wherein the different length is based on the location of the given heat fin along the nose portion and the acute angle relative to the plane of the printed circuit board.
3 . The optical module of claim 1 , wherein the heat fins located near a faceplate of the housing have less cross-sectional area than the heat fins located near a middle portion of the housing, wherein the heat fins located nearer the faceplate have the less cross-sectional area than the heat fins located nearer an interface between the nose portion and the middle portion.
4 . The optical module of claim 1 , wherein the housing includes a large volume portion near the faceplate, and wherein the optical subassembly is disposed within the large volume portion, wherein the large volume portion comprises a large-volume region of the nose portion having an internal height greater than an internal height of the middle portion.
5 . The optical module of claim 4 , wherein the heat fins are disposed on a top exterior surface of the housing over the large-volume region.
6 . The optical module of claim 1 , wherein the heat fins are straight fins where airflow is directed along the straight fins in a direction parallel to an insertion direction of the optical module into the host device, from a faceplate side toward a rear side opposite the faceplate.
7 . The optical module of claim 1 , wherein the optical subassembly connects to a ferrule that supports an optical fiber, wherein the angle is based on a bend radius of the optical fiber, and wherein the acute angle is selected such that the optical fiber exits the nose portion and connects to the circuitry without violating the bend-radius requirement.
8 . The optical module of claim 1 , wherein the optical subassembly is a Nano Integrable Tunable Laser Assembly (nITLA).
9 . The optical module of claim 1 , wherein the optical module is a Quad Small Form Factor (QSFP) or variant thereof.
10 . The optical module of claim 1 , wherein the optical module is based on a first Multisource Agreement (MSA) and the optical subassembly is a QSFP Double Density (QSFP-DD) Type 2B plug in which an allowable height of the nose portion is increased relative to a QSFP-DD Type 2A plug.
11 . The optical module of claim 1 , wherein the optical module is a pluggable optical module configured to be inserted into a host device.
12 . The optical module of claim 1 , wherein the angle is at least two degrees and at most ten degrees.
13 . An optical module comprising:
a housing including a faceplate, a nose portion adjacent to the faceplate, and a middle portion adjacent to the nose portion, wherein the optical module is configured in a Quad Small Form Factor (QSFP) family form factor, and wherein the housing is a housing of the optical module, encloses internal components of the optical module, and is configured to be inserted as a unit into a host device;
an optical subassembly positioned within the housing and within the nose portion at an acute angle relative to a plane of a printed circuit board disposed within the housing;
the printed circuit board comprising circuitry connected to the optical subassembly; and
heat fins disposed on an exterior surface of the nose portion of the housing over the optical subassembly,
wherein the heat fins have respective heights that increase with distance from the faceplate toward the middle portion such that tips of the heat fins define a generally common plane.
14 . The optical module of claim 13 , wherein a top of the heat fins is flat relative to one another and in a same plane as one another, and wherein, due to the angle, the heat fins have a different length extending downward to the housing near the optical subassembly, such that the different length is based on a location of a given heat fin and the angle, wherein the different length is based on the location of the given heat fin along the nose portion and the acute angle relative to the plane of the printed circuit board.
15 . The optical module of claim 13 , wherein one or more of the QSFP module is a QSFP Double Density (QSFP-DD) module, and the optical subassembly is a Nano Integrable Tunable Laser Assembly (nITLA).