Product of 2021 Award for KDPOF's integrated KD9351 FOT

With the annual Product of the Year awards, now in its 46th year, Electronic Products Magazine recognizes outstanding products that represent any of the following qualities: a significant advancement in a technology or its application, an exceptionally innovative design, a substantial achievement in price/performance, improvements in design performance, and a potential for new product designs/opportunities. Electronic Products editors evaluated 150+ products across 10 categories. These are this year’s winners:

Analog Devices Inc. (Analog/Mixed-Signal ICs), Analog Devices Inc. (Digital ICs), Bourns (Passives), C&K (Electromechanical), Eggtronic (Power), Harwin (Interconnects), KDPOF (Optoelectronics), Liquid Instruments (Test & Measurement), Omnivision (Sensors), and u-blox (RF/Microwave).

Extract from the report on electronicsproducts.com:

KDPOF – Optoelectronics: KD9351 Fiber-Optic Transceiver

Paving the way for optical multi-gigabit Ethernet in the vehicle, a key benefit of KDPOF’s integrated KD9351 fiber-optic transceiver (FOT) is that it reduces the costs for optical in-vehicle networks at 1 Gbit/s. The optical transceiver for 100 Mbits/s up to 1 Gbits/s lowers the cost by incorporating the transmit and receive optoelectronics (including the transimpedance amplifier, photodiode, LED driver, and LED) in one device. Additional integration benefits are a shorter supply chain and no test duplication with the final test at Tier 1.

The KD9351 reuses low-cost MEMS encapsulation and allows SMD reflow assembly with 8 × 7-mm LGA components. It is fully shielded against electromagnetic radiation. Fiber connection is done with a simple plastic connector placed on top. EMC performance is said to be excellent even with the ECU shield case removed because the shielding is integrated into the PCB component.

The operating temperature ranges from –40˚C to 105˚C to meet harsh automotive environmental requirements. The FOT withstands motor conditions with a vibration class of V2. The device also withstands water without sealing. Applications for the KD9351 include safe Ethernet backbones and sensor links for advanced driver-assistance systems.