
Samtec FireFly™ Mid-Board Optical Transceiver Solutions
Samtec's FireFly™ Micro Flyover System™ embedded and rugged optical transceivers take data connection "off board" for up to 28 Gbps per lane with a path to 112 Gbps PAM4 via optical cable at greater distances, or copper for cost optimization.
Samtec is the industry-leading provider of mid-board optical transceiver solutions. This growing and comprehensive family of products provides reliable signal integrity over an extended distance in chip-to-chip, board-to-board, on-board and system-to-system connectivity that takes data connection "off board" for up to 28 Gbps per lane with a path to 112 Gbps PAM4 via optical cable at greater distances, or copper for cost optimization.
FireFly™ Micro Flyover System™ is the first interconnect system that gives a designer the flexibility of using micro footprint high-performance optical and low-cost copper interconnects interchangeably with the same connector system.

Highest Density
The industry-leading miniature footprint of FireFly™ allows for greater density and closer proximity to the IC, which simplifies board layout and enhances signal integrity. Performance from 14 Gbps to 28 Gbps can be achieved in the same footprint covering an area of only 0.63 square inches for an aggregate 265 Gbps/in².

Ease of Routing
The two-piece board level interconnect system consists of a micro high-speed edge card connector, and a positive latch connector for power and control signal communications. Isolating the signal and power in this manner helps ease trace routing, compared to array systems.
UEC5 – High-Speed Edge Card Connector
- Gen 1 – up to 20 Gbps
- Gen 2 – 20+ Gbps
UCC8 – Positive Latch Connector

Ease of Assembly
The rugged two-piece edge card socket system, with weld tabs, latch locking mechanism, and loading guides, provides simplified mating and unmating of the cable assembly, compared to compression systems, which utilize mechanical screw downs and hardware.
Unlike existing optical engine-based solutions, thermal operating conditions are acknowledged and designed for by including an integral heat sink. This integral heat sink further simplifies the assembly process. Standard heat sinks are available in several designs, including finned, flat, fiber-groove for multi-row configurations, and custom designs, for conduction or convection cooling.

Signal Integrity
By taking the data connections “off-board” with Samtec Flyover® cables, the signal integrity design is made significantly easier, and the electrical performance improved.
Routing data above lossy board materials and other signal degrading components negates the need for the layout complexities that are required to design for high speed signaling.
Industries:
- Datacom
- Computer & Semiconductor
- Industrial
- Military & Aerospace
- Test Connectivity
- Instrumentation
- Medical
- Automotive
Featured Products

FireFly™ Copper – ECUE, PCUE
Features
- Performance to 56 Gbps
- 8 or 12 differential pairs
- 100 Ω, 34 or 36 AWG Eye Speed® twinax cable
- Variety of end 2 termination options
- Low-profile housing for space savings
- Low-cost solution for seamless integration of new and existing designs
- Standard copper (ECUE) and PCIe®-Over-FireFly™ copper (PCUE) assemblies available

FireFly™ Optical – ECUO, ETUO, PCUO, PTUO, PCOA
Features
- Performance to 28 Gbps; 32 Gbps in development
- x4 and x12 designs
- OM3 or OM4 multi-mode fiber
- Variety of End 2 options and heat sinks for various cooling processes
- Extended Temperature FireFly™ with a -40 ºC to +85 ºC range for military and industrial applications (ETUO)
- PCIe®-Over-Fiber optical cable systems transmit 3.0/4.0 data up to 100 m (PCUO); 5.0 data rate in development
- PCIe®-Over-Fiber adaptor card supports transparent and non-transparent bridging (PCOA)

FireFly™ Optical Patch Cable and Adaptor – OPA, FOPC
Features
- MTP male or female end options
- 12 or 24 fibers
- 3, 10 and 100 meter standard cable lengths
- 3.00 mm round jacketed cable
- Single or double port adaptor
- Keying options for proper alignment

FireFly™ Edge Card Socket Assembly – UEC5, UEC5-2
Features
- Performance up to 20 Gbps (UEC5), 20+ Gbps (UEC5-2)
- Rugged Edge Rate® contact system
- Low profile right-angle design
- Available in 19 positions
- Selective gold plated contacts
- Standard alignment pins and surface mount tails
- PCB footprints are not interchangeable for UEC5-1 and UEC5-2 data rate versions

FireFly™ Positive Latching Receptacle – UCC8
Features
- Power and low-speed control signal communications
- Available in 10 positions
- Selective gold plated contacts
- Standard alignment pins and weld tabs
- Part of the 2-piece connector set for FireFly™ optical and copper systems

FireFly™ Evaluation Kit – REF-209623-01
The 28 Gbps FireFly™ Evaluation Kit provides system designers, optical and SI engineers an easy-to-use solution for testing the FireFly™ Micro Flyover System™. Rated up to 28 Gbps per lane in x4 and x12 configurations, this kit allows the designer real-time evaluation of an actively running copper or optical FireFly™ system in their lab. The 28 Gbps FireFly™ Evaluation Kit delivers a high-quality system with robust optical, electrical and mechanical design.

FireFly™ Development Kit – REF-200772-28G-16-01
Samtec’s 25/28 Gbps FireFly™ FMC+ Module provides up to 400/448 Gbps full-duplex bandwidth over 16 channels from an FPGA to an industry-standard multi-mode fiber optic cable. The optical engines in FireFly™ provide adjustable power levels to support cable lengths up to 100 m.
As a VITA 57.4 FMC+ solution, the Samtec 25/28 Gbps FireFly™ FMC+ Module can be used for optical data communication on any FPGA development board supporting high-speed multi-gigabit transceivers. It can run system data or BERT testing on all channels in parallel. This makes evaluation and development with an FPGA much easier.