The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 24, 1998
Filed:
Jun. 10, 1996
Alistair J Price, Thousand Oaks, CA (US);
Alcatel Network Systems, Inc., Richardson, TX (US);
Abstract
An photodetector circuit comprising an avalanche photodiode having a signal input for receiving an input optical signal to be converted to an electrical signal. The photodetector circuit further includes biasing circuitry, coupled to the avalanche photodiode, for applying a bias voltage to the avalanche diode. The bias circuitry includes: (1) a dc bias circuit for providing a dc component to the bias voltage for maintaining the avalanche diode in a stable avalanche gain condition when receiving the input optical signal; and (2) a modulating circuit for providing a high frequency modulating component to the bias voltage for modulating the bias voltage in a manner that enhances the operational characteristics of the avalanche photodiode. In particular, the modulating component to the bias voltage decrease the noise of the signal output of the avalanche photodiode for a given average gain, and increases the bandwidth of the signal output of the avalanche photodiode for a given average gain.