Patent attributes
A construction and configuration for the receiving function of a high speed optical communication system with reduced manufacturing cost and improved performance. In an aspect, mounting the cover and lens provides a self-alignment behaviour that advantageously positions the cover and the lens to be in the optimum position for the photodiode. An assembly of electronic components receives data using an optical fibre. In one aspect, the assembly includes a photodiode, an amplifier coupled to the photodiode, and a printed circuit board on which the photodiode and amplifier are physically mounted, The printed circuit board has areas of a first material to which components may be attached using a fixing agent, and areas of a second material to which components will not attach using the fixing agent. Conductive bond wires are configured to directly couple the amplifier and the photodiode to conductive traces on an opposite side of the printed circuit board. A cover is configured to cover the amplifier and the photodiode, and is physically attached to the printed circuit board to provide mechanical rigidity around the photodiode and the amplifier. The cover has an optically transparent aperture containing a lens configured to focus modulated light signals from a fibre onto the photodiode. The printed circuit board has areas of a first material and second material configured to fix a location of the cover by use of the fixing agent to align the lens to focus the light signals from the fibre onto the photodiode.