Patent · US Expired

Optical power conversion

US5436553A · kind A · utility

33Cited by
7References
14Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 24, 1993
Grant dateJul 25, 1995
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 24, 2013

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S323/902
  • WIPO fieldTelecommunications
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An optical power conversion circuit converts an optical energy signal from an optical source, such as a laser diode, to a regulated D.C. electrical voltage using a single photodetector. A buck-boost circuit uses electrical current from the photodetector in response to the optical energy signal to store energy in an inductor during one polarity of a control signal, and transfers the energy from the inductor to an output capacitor during the other polarity of the control signal. The duty cycle of the control signal determines the regulated D.C. electrical voltage. A switch drive circuit generates the control signal as a pulse width modulated signal from the regulated D.C. electrical voltage and a reference voltage. The control signal is A.C. coupled to a pair of FET switches in the buck-boost circuit to alternately energize and charge the inductor and capacitor respectively. A switched capacitor is coupled in parallel with the photodetector to store energy from the photodetector when the inductor is transferring energy to the output capacitor. At startup one of the FET switches in the buck-boost circuit is normally closed and the other normally open, and a third FET switch decouples …

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.