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:
Nov. 08, 2011
Filed:
Dec. 12, 2007
Ziv Lipkin, Cupertino, CA (US);
Jingcheng Zhang, Saratoga, CA (US);
Ziv Lipkin, Cupertino, CA (US);
Jingcheng Zhang, Saratoga, CA (US);
Finisar Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A temperature control system is provided for efficiently controlling the temperature of an optical transmitter such as a laser diode. The temperature control system of the present invention reduces power consumption and achieves a higher efficiency by employing a voltage controller and a high-efficiency DC-DC step-down converter between the TEC controller, which drives the thermoelectric cooler, and the microcontroller, which governs the optical transmitter operation. The voltage controller converts an analog voltage command signal into a current-based command signal, which is then sent to the DC-DC step-down converter. The DC-DC converter produces a stepped-down voltage which it supplies to the TEC controller. The TEC controller receives the stepped-down voltage input from the DC-DC converter and outputs a corresponding current signal to the thermoelectric cooler. Because the current signal output by the TEC controller is proportional to the voltage signal it receives from the DC-DC converter, the current signal is reduced in magnitude. Upon receiving the current drive pulses, the thermoelectric cooler operates to stabilize the temperature of the laser diode.