A bonded, assembled SMP chipset is an SMP Fiber-Ready Optical Assembly or FROA. The optical path through an SMP FROA does not traverse free space. Instead it is contained within a chipset and crosses only contacting surfaces. This is one of the design-for-manufacturing criteria that provide advantages over free-space optics. An SMP FROA can be a simple, single-function device such as a 10G PIN photodiode, or a complex, multifunction device such as a triplexer. Unidirectional and bidirectional assemblies are available. All assembled SMP chipsets share a common set of design and packaging features including the following:

• SMP FROA can be sealed with a simple encapsulant similar to semiconductors. Hermetic packages are not required to protect the assembly.
• The optical train culminates in a v-groove for passive alignment to a fiber.
• A simple, flat-cleaved fiber is all that is required for passive coupling through the v-groove.