Patent ID: 7136592

Claim:
An optical detector that electronically aligns to an optical fiber, the optical detector comprising: a photo-detector device comprising an array of photo-sensors, which receives an optical signal output from an end of an optical fiber; and a controller operatively connected to the photo-detector device, to generate a detection signal by processing photo-sensor signals output from one or more photo-sensors in the array that are actuated by said optical signal, while discounting photo-sensors in the array that are not actuated by said optical signal, to thereby electronically align the optical fiber to the photo-detector device, wherein the controller comprises: DC extraction circuitry for extracting a DC components from the photo-sensor signal output from each photo-sensor in the array; AC extraction circuitry for extracting an AC component from the photo-sensor signal output from of each photo-sensor in the array; and multiplier circuitry coupled to the DC extraction circuitry and to the AC extraction circuitry for generating a separate multiplier output based on the AC component and the DC component of the photo-sensor signal output from each photo-sensor in the array.