HIGH DENSITY MODULE WITH INTEGRATED EXPANDED BEAM OPTICAL CONNECTOR

1 . An apparatus comprising a module, the module comprising:

a module housing;

an array of Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) connectors extending from a front of the module housing, wherein each of the EBO connectors comprises:

a connector housing having a port at a front end of the connector housing; and

a ferrule positioned within the port; and

a trunk cable extending from the rear of the housing, wherein the trunk cable comprises a set of ribbon fibers that are broken out within the module housing and attached to the EBO connectors.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:

each EBO connector supports a fiber density of 16 fibers or 32 fibers per connector;

the module is configured to hold the array of EBO connectors, wherein the array includes 9, 12, 15, or 18 EBO connectors; and

the module is sized to fit 12 modules within a 1U panel.

3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the array comprises twelve EPO couplers, within a 1U height, of 192 couplers of the panel comprising a set of twelve modules including the module, providing 1728 fibers using the 192 couplers.

4 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the array comprises eighteen EPO couplers, within a 1U height, of 216 couplers of the panel comprising a set of twelve modules including the module, providing 3456 fibers using the 216 couplers.

5 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the array comprises eighteen EPO couplers, within a 1U height, of 216 couplers of the panel comprising a set of twelve modules including the module, providing 6912 fibers using the 216 couplers.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the connector housing further comprises:

a closed face that extends laterally along the connector housing;

an open face opposite the closed face;

a channel extending from a rear of the housing to the port, wherein the channel is accessible from the open face; and

wherein a respective one of the set of ribbon fibers is routed along the channel, connecting the ferrule to the trunk cable.

7 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the connector housing further comprises:

a ridge protruding from the closed face opposite the channel;

wherein the ridge is configured to couple to a corresponding channel of an adjacent EBO connector in the array, securing a respective one of the set of ribbon fibers within the corresponding channel of the adjacent EBO connector.

8 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the connector housing further comprises a set of apertures, the apparatus further comprising:

a set of clips that are insertable into the set of apertures, wherein the clips are configured to secure the housing to an adjacent EBO connector in the array.

9 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the array comprises a first EBO connector and a second EBO connector that is adjacent to the first EBO connector;

wherein a first set of clips that are inserted into apertures of the first EBO connector are arranged along a diagonal, and a second set of clips that are inserted into apertures of the second EBO connector are arranged along a counter-diagonal.

10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the connector housing further comprises:

a set of guides for receiving a mating connector that is inserted into the port;

a set of springs configured to bias the mating connector; and

a lock configured to secure the mating connector when the mating connector has been fully inserted into the port.

11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a backshell configured to retain a set of mating connectors in a ganged arrangement corresponding to at least a portion of the EBO connectors in the array.

12 . A method comprising:

providing a set of Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) connectors wherein each of the EBO connectors comprises:

a connector housing comprising:

a port at a front end of the connector housing;

a closed face that extends laterally along the connector housing;

an open face opposite the closed face;

a channel extending from a rear of the housing to the port, wherein the channel is accessible from the open face;

a ridge protruding from the closed face opposite the channel;

a ferrule positioned within the port; and

a ribbon fiber that is connected the ferrule and routed along the channel, to the trunk cable;

coupling the channel of a first EBO connector to a corresponding ridge of a second EBO connector to secure the ribbon fiber within the channel of the first EBO connector; and

forming an array of EBO connectors from at least the first EBO connector and the second EBO connector.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein each connector housing further comprises a set of apertures, the method further comprising:

inserting a first set of clips along a diagonal into a respective set of apertures of the first EBO connector; and

securing the first EBO connector to second EBO connector with the first set of clips.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

inserting a second set of clips along an anti-diagonal into a respective set of apertures of the second EBO connector; and

securing the second EBO connector to a third EBO connector with the second set of clips.

15 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

ganging a set of mating connectors into a backshell to form a set of ganged connectors; and

inserting the set of ganged connectors into the ports of at least a portion of the EBO connectors in the array.

16 . The method of claim 12 , wherein:

each EBO connector supports a fiber density of 16 fibers or 32 fibers per connector;

the module is configured to hold the array of EBO connectors, wherein the array includes 9, 12, 15, or 18 EBO connectors; and

the module is sized to fit 12 modules within a 1U panel.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the array comprises twelve EPO couplers, within a 1U height, of 192 couplers of the panel comprising a set of twelve modules including the module, providing 1728 fibers using the 192 couplers.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the array comprises eighteen EPO couplers, within a 1U height, of 216 couplers of the panel comprising a set of twelve modules including the module, providing 3456 fibers using the 216 couplers.

19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the array comprises eighteen EPO couplers, within a 1U height, of 216 couplers of the panel comprising a set of twelve modules including the module, providing 6912 fibers using the 216 couplers.

20 . A module comprising:

a module housing;

an array of Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) connectors extending from a front of the module housing, wherein each of the EBO connectors comprises:

a connector housing having a port at a front end of the connector housing;

comprises:

a closed face that extends laterally along the connector housing;

an open face opposite the closed face; and

a channel extending from a rear of the housing to the port, wherein the channel is accessible from the open face;

a ridge protruding from the closed face opposite the channel; and

a set of apertures;

a ferrule positioned within the port;

a set of clips that are insertable into the set of apertures; and

a trunk cable extending from the rear of the housing:

wherein the trunk cable comprises a set of ribbon fibers that are broken out within the module housing and attached to the EBO connectors;

wherein a respective one of the set of ribbon fibers is routed along the channel, connecting the ferrule to the trunk cable;

wherein the ridge is configured to couple to a corresponding channel of an adjacent EBO connector in the array, securing a respective one of the set of ribbon fibers within the corresponding channel of the adjacent EBO connector;

wherein the clips are configured to secure the housing to an adjacent EBO connector in the array.