Encrypted optoelectronic module

1. A transceiver comprising:

a transmitter optical subassembly including a fiber receptacle and an optical signal source;

a receiver optical subassembly including a photodiode and a preamplifier circuit;

an encryption and decryption key;

an encryption block operably connected to the transmitter optical subassembly, the encryption block configured to perform an encryption operation on data received from a host device using the encryption and decryption key and to provide the resulting encrypted data to the transmitter optical assembly; and

a decryption block operably connected to the receiver optical subassembly, decryption block including:

a demultiplexer configured to receive serial data from the receiver optical subassembly and convert the serial data into parallel data,

a decryption unit configured to receive the parallel data and perform a decryption operation using the encryption and decryption key,

a decoder coupled between the demultiplexer and the decryption unit and configured to remove header data or alignment data from the parallel data such that the header data or alignment data is not decrypted, and

a multiplexer configured to receive the decrypted parallel data and convert the decrypted parallel data into serial data.

2. The transceiver in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising a laser driver/post amplifier connected to the transmitter optical subassembly and the receiver optical subassembly, wherein the encryption block or the decryption block are integrated onto the same integrated circuit (IC) as the laser driver/post amplifier.

3. The transceiver in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising a control module IC and a memory module having an authentication key stored thereon, wherein the transceiver is configured to authenticate the transceiver by receiving challenge data from a host device and sending response data to the host device using the authentication key.

4. The transceiver in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising security means configured to determine if an unauthorized attempt has been made to access the encryption and decryption key.

5. The transceiver in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising a memory, wherein the memory includes a key storage unit configured to store a plurality of encryption and decryption keys.

6. The transceiver in accordance with claim 5 , wherein the transceiver is configured to rotate through the plurality of encryption and decryption keys such that no particular encryption and decryption key is used for more than a predetermined time interval.

7. The transceiver in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the encryption block includes:

a second demultiplexer configured to receive serial data and convert the serial data into parallel data;

an encryption unit configured to receive the parallel data and perform an encryption operation using the encryption and decryption key; and

a multiplexer configured to receive the encrypted parallel data and convert the received encrypted parallel data into serial data.

8. The transceiver in accordance with claim 7 , wherein the encryption block further includes:

a second decoder coupled between the second demultiplexer and the encryption unit and configured to remove header data or alignment data from the parallel data such that the header data or alignment data is not encrypted; and

a second coder coupled between the encryption unit and the second multiplexer and configured to replace any header data or alignment data that was removed by the second decoder to the parallel data.

9. The transceiver in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the decryption block further comprises:

a coder coupled between the decryption unit and the multiplexer and configured to replace any header data or alignment data that was removed by the decoder to the parallel data.

10. In a local optical transceiver that includes an encryption block and a decryption block, a method for encrypting and/or decrypting data at the local optical transceiver, the method comprising:

writing an encryption and decryption key to an encryption and decryption key storage unit in memory of the local transceiver using a write-only interface;

receiving unencrypted serial data at the encryption block from a host device that is coupled to the local optical transceiver;

demultiplexing the unencrypted serial data into unencrypted parallel data;

removing header data from the unencrypted parallel data;

at the encryption block, performing an encryption operation on the unencrypted parallel data using the encryption and decryption key to encrypt the unencrypted parallel data;

multiplexing the encrypted parallel data into encrypted serial data; and

transmitting the encrypted serial data to a remote optical transceiver.

11. The method in accordance with claim 10 , further comprising:

at the decryption block, receiving encrypted data from the remote optical transceiver;

at the decryption block, performing a decryption operation on the received encrypted data using the encryption and decryption key to decrypt the encrypted data; and

providing the unencrypted data to the host device.

12. The method in accordance with claim 10 , wherein the remote optical transceiver is a matching optical transceiver that is substantially identical to the local optical transceiver.

13. The method in accordance with claim 12 , wherein the remote optical transceiver includes a second encryption and decryption key that matches the encryption and decryption key.

14. The method in accordance with claim 10 , the method further comprising:

writing to the encryption and decryption key storage unit a plurality of encryption and decryption keys using the write-only interface; and

at the encryption block, cycling through the plurality of encryption and decryption keys when performing the encryption operation such that no present encryption and decryption key of the plurality of encryption and decryption keys is used for more than a predetermined time interval.

15. The method in accordance with claim 14 , wherein cycling through the plurality of encryption and decryption keys comprises one of:

cycling through the plurality of encryption and decryption keys in response to a counter reaching the predetermined time interval; or

receiving a command from a control module or a host device indicating that the present encryption and decryption key should be changed to another of the plurality of encryption and decryption keys.

16. The method in accordance with claim 11 , the method further comprising:

writing to the encryption and decryption key storage unit a plurality of encryption and decryption keys using the write-only interface; and

at the decryption block, cycling through the plurality of encryption and decryption keys when performing the decryption operation such that no present encryption and decryption key of the plurality of encryption and decryption keys is used for more than a predetermined time interval.

17. The method in accordance with claim 10 , the method further comprising:

determining if an attempt has been made to access the encryption and decryption key by sensing whether a cover of the local transceiver has been removed.