Patent ID: 7317674

Claim:
A laser driver integrated circuit (LDIC), the LDIC including: an automatic power controller (APC); a running optical power controller (ROPC); and a write strategy generator (WSG); wherein said APC, said ROPC and said WSG are all included in the LDIC; wherein the LDIC is configured to be located on an optical pickup unit (OPU) and to drive a laser diode that is located on the OPU with the LDIC; wherein said APC is configured to control an output of the laser diode to compensate for changes in characteristics of the laser diode; wherein said ROPC is configured to control the output of the laser diode to compensate for variations in an optical media; wherein said WSG is configured to implement write strategies; and wherein said APC and said ROPC each include there own dedicated offset, gain and sample and hold circuitry, thereby reducing an amount of analog signals to be sent over a flex cable between the OPU and a main board.