Patent ID: 7203213

Claim:
An accelerator circuit for accelerating the turn-on operation of a laser diode, the laser diode being connected to a current driver circuit providing a bias current to the laser diode, a control circuit being connected to the current driver circuit for controlling the bias current in response to a command signal indicative of the desired bias current level and the commanded power of the laser diode and a feedback signal indicative of the laser output power level, the control circuit including a compensation capacitor establishing the control loop bandwidth of the control circuit, the accelerator circuit comprising: a comparator coupled to receive the command signal and the feedback signal, the comparator providing a first output signal having a first state when the feedback signal indicates that the laser diode has not reached the commanded power and having a second state when the feedback signal indicates that the laser diode has reached or exceeded the commanded power; a timer circuit coupled to receive a first signal for turning on the laser diode, the timer circuit providing a second output signal having a first state for a preselected time duration when triggered by the first signal and having a second state at the expiration of the preselected time duration; a first logic circuit coupled to receive the first output signal and the second output signal, the first logic circuit generating a control signal responsive to the first output signal and the second output signal; and a current source, responsive to the control signal, for providing a boost current to the compensation capacitor of the control circuit; wherein the first logic circuit provides the control signal having a first state operating to turn on the current source when the first output signal and the second output signal are in their respective first state, and the first logic circuit provides the control signal having a second state operating to turn off the current source when either the first output signal or the second output signal is in its respective second state.