Abstract:
An optical signal receiving circuit disclosed herein comprises: a first transimpedance amplifier configured to convert a first current signal into a first voltage signal, wherein the first current signal is generated in a first photodiode, to which an optical signal is inputted; a reference voltage generating circuit configured to generate a second voltage signal which is independent of the first voltage signal and which is a signal of a reference voltage; a level shift circuit configured to shift at least one of the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal in a close direction and output it, wherein the close direction is a direction in which the center voltage of the amplitude of the first voltage signal and the voltage of the second voltage signal get closer; and a differential amplifier which amplifies a difference between the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
         [0001]    This application claims benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-344054, filed on Nov. 27, 2002, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates to an optical signal receiving circuit and an optical signal receiving semiconductor device used for a digital signal photocoupler, an optical digital data link, and the like.  
           [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0005]    [0005]FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of a related digital optical signal receiving circuit  5 , and FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are diagrams showing voltage waveforms in various nodes of the optical signal receiving circuit  5 .  
           [0006]    As shown in FIG. 7, the related optical signal receiving circuit  5  includes photodiodes  10  and  12 , transimpedance amplifiers  14  and  16 , a differential amplifier  20 , a comparator  22 , an output circuit  24 , and a light shield  30 .  
           [0007]    An optical signal is inputted to the photodiode  10 , and the photodiode  10  generates a current signal in response to the optical signal. The current signal is converted into a voltage signal in the transimpedance amplifier  14 . An example of this voltage signal is S 1  in FIG. 8A. This voltage signal S 1  is then inputted to the differential amplifier  20 .  
           [0008]    On the other hand, no optical signal is inputted to the dummy photodiode  12  since the light shield  30  is provided for the dummy photodiode  12 , and hence the dummy photodiode  12  generates only a current signal based on noise and the like. This current signal based on noise and the like can be assumed to be generated in the same manner as in the photodiode  10 . The current signal based on noise and the like which is generated in the photodiode  12  is converted into a voltage signal in the dummy transimpedance amplifier  16 . This voltage signal is raised by a voltage V 1  by a voltage source V 1  and inputted to the differential amplifier  20 . An example of this voltage signal is S 2  in FIG. 8A. Incidentally, the reason why an offset of the voltage V 1  is provided is that the operation of the comparator  22  is stabilized by allowing the voltage signal S 2  to have a higher voltage when the voltage signal S 1  being an output of the transimpedance amplifier  14  is nothing.  
           [0009]    The differential amplifier  20  amplifies a difference between these voltage signals S 1  and S 2  and outputs a equilibrium signal S 3 , and concurrently outputs a equilibrium signal S 4  obtained by inverting the equilibrium signal S 3 . Respective examples of the equilibrium signals S 3  and S 4  are shown in FIG. 8B. These equilibrium signals S 3  and S 4  are inputted to the comparator  22 . The equilibrium signals S 3  and S 4  are outputted to the output circuit  24  after their waveforms are adjusted in the comparator  22 . The output circuit  24  outputs a digital signal based on the equilibrium signals S 3  and S 4 .  
           [0010]    The aforementioned optical signal receiving circuit  5 , however, has a problem that when the operating region of the differential amplifier  20  is in a clip region, clip voltage is outputted to the equilibrium signals S 3  and S 4 , and hence an accurate digital signal is not obtained. Namely, if the equilibrium signal S 3  is taken as an example, when the differential amplifier  20  operates in a non-clip region as shown in FIG. 9, the equilibrium signal S 3  can draw a correct waveform according to a photocurrent as shown by a full line. When the differential amplifier  20  operates in the clip region, however, the equilibrium signal S 3  is clipped with the clip voltage of the differential amplifier  20  as shown by a dotted line, and hence it cannot draw a correct waveform according to the photocurrent. There arises a problem that if the digital signal is generated by use of such equilibrium signals S 3  and S 4 , the pulse width of the digital signal increases.  
           [0011]    Moreover, in the photodiode  10  and the transimpedance amplifier  14  which convert the optical signal into the current signal, a tail  40  such as shown in FIG. 8A is sometimes caused by a diffusion current in the photodiode or the like when the optical signal is about to disappear. If the tail  40  occurs in the voltage signal S 1 , the tail  40  is amplified by the differential amplifier  20 , which causes a problem that the pulse width of the outputted digital signal is increased or a pulse combines with the next pulse. Namely, as shown in FIG. 8A, if the tail  40  occurs in the voltage signal S 1 , the cross point between the equilibrium signal S 3  and the equilibrium signal S 4  is shifted, and hence a distortion  42  occurs in the pulse width of the outputted digital signal.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0012]    In order to accomplish the aforementioned and other objects, according to one aspect of the present invention, an optical signal receiving circuit, comprises:  
           [0013]    a first transimpedance amplifier configured to convert a first current signal into a first voltage signal, wherein the first current signal is generated in a first photodiode, to which an optical signal is inputted;  
           [0014]    a reference voltage generating circuit configured to generate a second voltage signal which is independent of the first voltage signal and which is a signal of a reference voltage;  
           [0015]    a level shift circuit configured to shift at least one of the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal in a close direction and output it, wherein the close direction is a direction in which the center voltage of the amplitude of the first voltage signal and the voltage of the second voltage signal get closer, wherein the amplitude of the first voltage signal is generated based on a result of detection of light of the optical signal in the first photodiode; and  
           [0016]    a differential amplifier to which the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal outputted from the level shift circuit are inputted, the differential amplifier configured to amplify a difference between the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal.  
           [0017]    According to another aspect of the present invention, an optical signal receiving circuit, comprises:  
           [0018]    a first transimpedance amplifier configured to convert a first current signal into a first voltage signal, wherein the first current signal is generated in a first photodiode, to which an optical signal is inputted;  
           [0019]    a second transimpedance amplifier configured to convert a second current signal into a second voltage signal, wherein the second current signal is generated in a second photodiode, to which no optical signal is inputted;  
           [0020]    a level shift circuit configured to shift at least one of the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal in a close direction and output it, wherein the close direction is a direction in which the center voltage of the amplitude of the first voltage signal and the voltage of the second voltage signal get closer, wherein the amplitude of the first voltage signal is generated based on a result of detection of light of the optical signal in the first photodiode; and  
           [0021]    a differential amplifier to which the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal outputted from the level shift circuit are inputted, the differential amplifier configured to amplify a difference between the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal.  
           [0022]    According to a further aspect of the present invention, an optical signal receiving semiconductor device, comprises:  
           [0023]    a first photodiode formed on a semiconductor chip, wherein an optical signal is inputted to the first photodiode so as to generate a first current signal;  
           [0024]    a second photodiode formed on the semiconductor chip, wherein no optical signal is inputted to the second photodiode so as to generate a second current signal; and  
           [0025]    a optical signal receiving circuit, comprising:  
           [0026]    a first transimpedance amplifier configured to convert the first current signal into a first voltage signal;  
           [0027]    a second transimpedance amplifier configured to convert the second current signal into a second voltage signal;  
           [0028]    a level shift circuit configured to shift at least one of the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal in a close direction and output it, wherein the close direction is a direction in which the center voltage of the amplitude of the first voltage signal and the voltage of the second voltage signal get closer, wherein the amplitude of the first voltage signal is generated based on a result of detection of light of the optical signal in the first photodiode; and  
           [0029]    a differential amplifier to which the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal outputted from the level shift circuit are inputted, the differential amplifier configured to amplify a difference between the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0030]    [0030]FIG. 1 is a block diagram explaining the circuit configuration of an optical signal receiving circuit according to a first embodiment;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, and FIG. 2C are diagrams showing voltage waveforms in various nodes of the optical signal receiving circuit in FIG. 1;  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of an operational circuit of the optical signal receiving circuit according to the first embodiment;  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a modification of the operational circuit in FIG. 3;  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of an operational circuit of an optical signal receiving circuit according to a second embodiment;  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a modification of the operational circuit in FIG. 5;  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 7 is a block diagram explaining the circuit configuration of a related optical signal receiving circuit;  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are diagrams showing voltage waveforms in various nodes of the optical signal receiving circuit in FIG. 7;  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a voltage waveform when a voltage signal being an output of a differential amplifier is clipped and a voltage waveform when it is not clipped;  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 10 is a block diagram explaining the circuit configuration of an optical signal receiving circuit in which a voltage signal which is an output of a transimpedance amplifier drops when a photodiode detects light of an optical signal by modifying the optical signal receiving circuit in FIG. 1;  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 11 is a block diagram explaining the circuit configuration of an optical signal receiving circuit when a level shift circuit controls the voltage of a voltage signal which is a reference voltage;  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 12A, FIG. 12B, and FIG. 12C are diagrams showing voltage waveforms in various nodes of the optical signal receiving circuit in FIG. 11;  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 13 is a block diagram explaining the circuit configuration of an optical signal receiving circuit in which a voltage signal which is an output of a transimpedance amplifier drops when a photodiode detects light of an optical signal by modifying the optical signal receiving circuit in FIG. 11;  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 14 is a block diagram explaining an example of the circuit configuration of an optical signal receiving circuit in which an output of a level shift circuit is inputted to a differential amplifier via a buffer as an example of another circuit;  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 15 is a block diagram explaining the circuit configuration of an optical signal receiving circuit when a level shift circuit controls both of the voltage of a voltage signal (whose voltage rises when light is detected) which is amplified by an optical signal and the voltage of a voltage signal as a reference voltage; and  
         [0045]    [0045]FIG. 16 is a block diagram explaining the circuit configuration of an optical signal receiving circuit when a level shift circuit controls both of the voltage of a voltage signal (whose voltage drops when light is detected) which is amplified by an optical signal and the voltage of a voltage signal as a reference voltage. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS  
       [0046]    (First Embodiment)  
         [0047]    An optical signal receiving circuit according to the first embodiment is provided with a level shift circuit which sifts the voltage of a voltage signal based on an optical signal downward in a stage previous to a differential amplifier, and then an output signal is prevented from an influence of a tail. Further details will be given below.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 1 is a block diagram explaining a circuit configuration of an optical signal receiving circuit  50  according to this embodiment, and FIG. 2 A, FIG. 2B, and FIG. 2C are diagrams showing voltage waveforms in various nodes of the optical signal receiving circuit  50 .  
         [0049]    As shown in FIG. 1, the optical signal receiving circuit  50  according to this embodiment is configured by additionally inserting a level shift circuit  60  in a stage previous to a differential amplifier  20  in an optical signal receiving circuit  5  described above. It should be noted that the same numerals and symbols are used to designate the same components as those in the aforementioned optical signal receiving circuit  5  in FIG. 7. Moreover, in this embodiment, respective elements and respective circuits shown in FIG. 1 are formed on one semiconductor chip to constitute part of an optical signal receiving semiconductor device.  
         [0050]    The level shift circuit  60  according to this embodiment includes resistances  62  and  64 , a peak hold circuit  70 , buffer circuits  72  and  74 , and an operational circuit  76 . An output of a transimpedance amplifier  14  is connected to one end of the resistance  62  and the peak hold circuit  70 , and the other end of the resistance  62  is connected to an input of the differential amplifier  20 .  
         [0051]    The peak hold circuit  70  is a circuit which holds a peak value of a voltage signal S 1  being an output of the transimpedance amplifier  14  for a predetermined time. Namely, as shown in FIG. 2A, the voltage signal S 1  is inputted to the peak hold circuit  70 , and a voltage signal S 10  which is obtained by maintaining the peak value of the voltage signal S 1  for the predetermined time is outputted therefrom. The voltage signal S 10  is inputted to the buffer circuit  72 . The voltage signal S 10  outputted from the buffer circuit  72  is inputted to the operational circuit  76 .  
         [0052]    On the other hand, an output of a dummy transimpedance amplifier  16  is connected to a voltage source V 1  and an input of the buffer circuit  74 . Accordingly, a voltage signal S 11  outputted from the transimpedance amplifier  16  is inputted to the operational circuit  76  via the buffer circuit  74 .  
         [0053]    The resistance  64  is inserted between the voltage source V 1  and an input of the differential amplifier  20 . In this embodiment, the resistance value of the resistance  64  is substantially the same as the resistance value of the resistance  62 . In other words, the resistance  64  is provided to equalize the resistance value on the input side of the differential amplifier  20  with the resistance value on the resistance  62  side. Therefore, the resistance  64  is an element which is not necessarily required in this embodiment. A node N 1  between the resistance  62  and the input of the differential amplifier  20  is connected to the operational circuit  76 .  
         [0054]    In this embodiment, the operational circuit  76  is a circuit which shifts the voltage at the node N 1  downward by half of the peak amplitude of the voltage signal S 1 . Namely, when the voltage signal S 11  such as shown in FIG. 2A is generated, a voltage signal S 12  at the node N 1  has a waveform shifted downward by half of the peak amplitude as shown in FIG. 2B.  
         [0055]    Accordingly, in this embodiment, the voltage signal S 12  whose voltage is shifted downward as described above is inputted to the differential amplifier  20 . On the other hand, the voltage signal S 11  from the transimpedance amplifier  16  is offset by the voltage V 1  and inputted to the differential amplifier  20  via the resistance  64 . Therefore, even if a tail  40  such as shown in FIG. 2B is caused to the voltage signal S 12 , it is possible to prevent the influence of the tail  40  upon the equilibrium signals S 3  and S 4  as shown in FIG. 2C.  
         [0056]    [0056]FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a circuit configuration of the operational circuit  76  according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the operational circuit  76  includes resistances R 301  to R 304 , NPN-type bipolar transistors Q 301 , Q 302 , and Q 306  to Q 309 , and PNP-type bipolar transistors Q 303  to Q 305 .  
         [0057]    More specifically, the voltage signal S 10  from the buffer circuit  72  is inputted to an input terminal IN 1 , and the voltage signal S 11  from the buffer circuit  74  is inputted to an input terminal IN 2 . The voltage signal S 10  is converted into a current I 1  by the resistance R 301 , and the voltage signal S 11  is converted into a current I 3  by the resistance R 304 . The current I 1  is mirrored by a first current mirror circuit CM 1  composed of the transistors Q 301  and Q 302  and outputted as a current I 2 . The current I 3  is mirrored by a second current mirror circuit CM 2  composed of the transistors Q 308  and Q 309  and outputted as a current I 4 .  
         [0058]    The current I 2  is mirrored by a third current mirror circuit CM 3  composed of the transistors Q 303 , Q 304 , and Q 305  and becomes a current I 5 . The current I 5  is inputted to a fourth current mirror circuit CM 4  composed of the transistors Q 306  and Q 307 , and simultaneously the output current I 4  of the second current mirror circuit CM 2  is also connected to the same node, whereby an output current I 6  of the fourth current mirror circuit CM 4  is expressed by the following equation.  
         I6=I5−I4=I1−I3   (1)  
         [0059]    The mirror ratios of the aforementioned current mirror circuits CM 1  to CM 4  are all 1:1. Moreover, the voltage at the input terminal IN 1  is the voltage of the peak value of the voltage signal S 1 , while the voltage at the input terminal IN 2  is the voltage of the voltage signal S 11  used as the reference, and hence the current I 6 , which is a difference between their corresponding currents I 1  and I 3 , is a current corresponding to the amplitude of the voltage signal S 1 .  
         [0060]    Consequently, for example, by designing the resistance  62  in FIG. 1 to have half of the value of the resistance R 301 , designing the resistance R 304  to have the same value as the resistance R 301 , connecting an output terminal IN 3  to the node N 1 , and extracting the current I 6  from the node N 1 , the voltage at the node N 1  drops by half of the pulse peak value (amplitude) of the voltage signal S 1  as shown in FIG. 2B. Therefore, a voltage signal S 2  which is a reference voltage is located almost in the center of the signal pulse amplitude of the voltage signal S 12 . Thereby, the equilibrium signals S 3  and S 4  faithful to an inputted optical signal can be outputted. In this case, even if a tail  40  due to a diffusion current in a photodiode  12  or the like is caused to each of the voltage signals SI and S 12 , this tail  40  is located on the lower voltage side than the voltage signal S 2  being the reference voltage, which can avoid its influence upon the equilibrium signals S 3  and S 4 . This can prevent the occurrence of pulse width distortion in a digital signal which is an output signal of this optical signal receiving circuit  50 .  
         [0061]    Incidentally, in the operational circuit  76  in FIG. 3, the resistance  62  in FIG. 1 is designed to have half of the value of the resistance R 301  and the voltage at the node N 1  drops by half the amplitude of the voltage signal Si, but for example, as shown in FIG. 4, it is also possible that the current I 6  has half of the value of the current I 1 -I 3  by designing the emitter size of the transistor Q 306  to be double the emitter size of the transistor Q 307  with the resistance  62  having substantially the same value as the resistance R 301 . In other words, if the resistance  62 =the resistance R 301 , the mirror ratio of the fourth current mirror circuit CM 4  may be 2:1.  
         [0062]    As described above, according to the optical signal receiving circuit  50  according to this embodiment, the voltage signal Si is shifted by almost half of its amplitude in an opposite direction to an oscillation direction which is the direction of change when the optical signal is detected by the photodiode  10  and becomes the voltage signal S 12 , hence the voltage signal S 2  as the reference voltage is located in the central position of the amplitude of the voltage signal S 12 , and consequently, even if the differential amplifier  20  in the next stage performs a clip operation, it is possible to cross the equilibrium signals S 3  and S 4  in the center of the amplitude as shown in FIG. 2C, which can avoid its influence upon the output signal of the optical signal receiving circuit  50 . Moreover, even if the tail  40  occurs in the voltage signal S 1 , this tail  40  is a voltage lower than the voltage of the voltage signal S 2  as the reference voltage, whereby the influence of the tail  40  upon the operation of the differential amplifier  20  can be avoided. As a result, the possibility of occurrence of pulse width distortion in the digital signal as the output of the optical signal receiving circuit  50  can be reduced greatly.  
         [0063]    The resistance  62  is provided between the output of the transimpedance amplifier  14  and the input of the differential amplifier  20 , the resistance  64  is provided between the output of the transimpedance amplifier  16  and the input of the differential amplifier  20 , and the resistance value of this resistance  64  is made substantially the same as that of the resistance  62 . Consequently, an error due to an input bias current of the differential amplifier  20 , or the like can be reduced.  
         [0064]    Moreover, since the buffer circuit  74  is provided between the output of the transimpedance amplifier  16  and the operational circuit  76 , an error due to a load current can be reduced by lightening the output load of the transimpedance amplifier  16 . Further, since the buffer circuit  72  is provided between the peak hold circuit  70  and the operational circuit  76 , it is possible to light the load of the peak hold circuit  70  to thereby prolong the voltage hold time of the peak hold circuit  70  and hold the error due to the load current to a minimum.  
         [0065]    Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the operational circuit  76  performs an operation after once converting a voltage signal into a current, it can be configured more simply than when the operation is performed with a voltage itself. Moreover, since the output of the operational circuit  76  has high impedance, the voltage at the node N 1  can be controlled while hardly affecting the original operation of the differential amplifier  20 .  
         [0066]    (Second Embodiment)  
         [0067]    In the second embodiment, a modification is added to the circuit configuration of the operational circuit  76  according to the aforementioned first embodiment. In this embodiment, the entire configuration of the optical signal receiving circuit  50  is the same as that in FIG. 1 described above.  
         [0068]    [0068]FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of the operational circuit  76  according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the operational circuit  76  according to this embodiment is configured by adding a fifth current mirror circuit CM 5  to the operational circuit in FIG. 3. This fifth current mirror circuit CM 5  is composed of PNP-type bipolar transistors Q 401  to Q 403 , and its mirror ratio is 1:1.  
         [0069]    The operational circuit  76  shown in FIG. 5 also operates in the same manner as the operational circuit  76  shown in FIG. 3. Namely, a current I 26  is expressed by the following equation.  
         I26=I25=I22−I24=I21−I23   (2)  
         [0070]    In other words, the voltage signal S 10  inputted from the input terminal IN 1  is converted into a current I 21  by the resistance R 301 . This current I 21  is mirrored by the first current mirror circuit CM 1  and outputted as a current I 22 .  
         [0071]    On the other hand, the voltage signal S 11  inputted from the input terminal IN 2  is converted into a current I 23  by the resistance R 304 . This current I 23  is mirrored by the second current mirror circuit CM 2  and outputted as a current I 24 . This current I 24  is mirrored by the fifth current mirror circuit CM 5  and flows into the output side of the first current mirror circuit CM 1 .  
         [0072]    Accordingly, in the third current mirror circuit CM 3 , the current I 22 -I 24  is mirrored and outputted as a current I 25 . This current I 25  is mirrored by the fourth current mirror circuit CM 4  and becomes a current I 26 . Hence, the current I 26  becomes the current I 21 -I 23  which is a current corresponding to the pulse amplitude of the voltage signal S 1 .  
         [0073]    Consequently, if the value of the resistance  62  is designed to be half the value of the resistance R 301  as in the aforementioned first embodiment, the voltage signal S 12  such as shown in FIG. 2B can be obtained at the node N 1 . Moreover, similarly to the aforementioned first embodiment, it is suitable to equalize the resistance value of the resistance  62  and the resistance value of the resistance R 301  and make the mirror ratio of the fourth current mirror circuit CM 4  2:1 as shown in FIG. 6.  
         [0074]    Incidentally, the present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiments, and various modifications may be made therein. For example, resistance values and the mirror ratios of the current mirror circuits in the operational circuit  76  are not limited to the aforementioned combination. Namely, a combination has only to be determined so that the voltage at the node N 1  is half the amplitude of the voltage signal S 1 . In other words, the voltage of the voltage signal S 1  has only to be shifted so that the voltage signal S 2  is located in a central position of the amplitude of the voltage signal S 12 .  
         [0075]    The pulse width distortion of the outputted digital signal becomes a minimum when the voltage signal S 2  is located in the center of the amplitude of the voltage signal S 12 , but no problem arises even if it is not necessarily exactly in the center. Namely, in terms of practical use, it is sufficient if the voltage signal S 2  is located in the central position of the amplitude of the voltage signal S 12 .  
         [0076]    Moreover, even if the NPN transistors and the PNP transistors in the aforementioned operational circuit  76  are interchanged, the same operation can be realized. Further, although the aforementioned operational circuit  76  is composed of the bipolar-type transistors, it can be composed of MIS transistors (Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor Transistors).  
         [0077]    Moreover, although the transimpedance amplifiers  14  and  16  are provided separately in the aforementioned embodiments, it is also possible to integrate them and use a differential amplifier. Incidentally, the buffer circuits  72  and  74  are general circuits and can be realized, for example, by a voltage follower circuit to which the differential amplifier is applied.  
         [0078]    Further, although the present invention is explained with the optical signal receiving circuit in which the voltage of the voltage signal S 1  rises when the photodiode  10  detects light of an optical signal as an example in the aforementioned embodiments, as shown in FIG. 10, the present invention is also applicable to an optical signal receiving circuit in which the voltage of the voltage signal S 1  drops when the photodiode  10  detects the light of the optical signal. Namely, in this case, it can be said that the level shift circuit  60  is a circuit which shifts the voltage of the voltage signal S 1  in an opposite direction to an oscillation direction which is the direction of change of the voltage signal S 1  when the light of the optical signal is detected by the photodiode  10 . In the case of the optical signal receiving circuit in FIG. 10, the level shift circuit  60  feeds a current to the node N 1  in order to raise the voltage at the node N 1 .  
         [0079]    Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 11, it is also suitable to shift the voltage signal S 2  as the reference voltage in the oscillation direction which is the direction of change of the voltage signal S 1  when the light of the optical signal is detected by the photodiode  10 . Namely, in the case of FIG. 11, when the photodiode  10  detects the light of the optical signal, as shown in FIG. 12A, the voltage signal S 1  rises. Therefore, the level shift circuit  60  in FIG. 11 feeds a current to a node N 2  between the resistance  64  and the differential amplifier  20 , whereby as shown in FIG. 12B, the voltage signal S 2  is raised to become the voltage signal S 20 , so that the voltage signal S 20  is located in the central position of the amplitude of the voltage signal S 1 . In so doing, similarly to the aforementioned first and second embodiments, pulse width distortion which occurs in the output signal can be reduced.  
         [0080]    Moreover, by modifying the optical signal receiving circuit shown in FIG. 11, as shown in FIG. 13, the present invention can be applied to an optical signal receiving circuit in which the voltage of the voltage signal S 1  drops when the photodiode  10  detects the light of the optical signal.  
         [0081]    Besides, the aforementioned resistances  62  and  64  need not be necessarily connected directly to the inputs of the differential amplifier  20 . For example, as shown in FIG. 14, they may be inputted to the differential amplifier  20  via buffers (emitter followers, or the like)  80  and  82 . In the case of the example in FIG. 14, the voltage signal S 12  is inputted to the differential amplifier  20  via the buffer  80 , and the voltage signal S 2  is inputted to the differential amplifier  20  via the buffer  82 . In other words, the voltage signals outputted from the level shift circuit may be each indirectly inputted to the differential amplifier  20  via another circuit. This also applies to the other optical signal receiving circuits (for example, in FIG. 10, FIG. 11, and FIG.  13 ).  
         [0082]    Moreover, although the voltage of the voltage signal S 1 i or the voltage signal S 2  is shifted in each of the level shift circuits  60  of the aforementioned optical signal receiving circuits, the voltages of both the voltage signal S 1  and the voltage signal S 2  may be shifted. In this case, as shown in FIG. 15, the level shift circuit  60  extracts a current according to a difference between the voltage signal S 10  and the voltage signal S 11  from the node N 1  and feeds a current according to the difference between the voltage signal S 10  and the voltage signal S 11  to the node N 2  so that the voltage signal S 2  is located in the central position of the amplitude of the voltage signal S 1 . Further, as shown in FIG. 16, when the oscillation direction of the voltage signal S 1 i is opposite to the above, the level shift circuit  60  feeds a current according to the difference between the voltage signal S 11  and the voltage signal S 11  to the node N 1  and extracts a current according to the difference between the voltage signal S 10  and the voltage signal S 11  from the node N 2  so that the voltage signal S 2  is located in the central position of the amplitude of the voltage signal S 1 . Namely, in the present invention, the level shift circuit  60  is required to shift the voltage of at least one of the voltage signal S 1  and the voltage signal S 2  in a direction in which the center voltage of the amplitude of the voltage signal S 1  generated based on the result of detection of the light of the optical signal by the photodiode  10  and the voltage signal S 2  as the reference voltage get closer.  
         [0083]    Furthermore, the aforementioned photodiode  12  and the transimpedance amplifier  16  are an example of a reference voltage generating circuit to generate the voltage signal S 11  which is the signal of a reference voltage, and the configuration of the reference voltage generating circuit is not limited to this. For example, it is also possible to provide an electrode in place of the photodiode  12  and input a signal of the electrode to the transimpedance amplifier  16 .