Patent ID: 7940823

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 timer circuit coupled to receive a first signal for turning on the laser diode when the laser diode has been turned off, the laser diode being turned on by supplying the bias current above a threshold level to the laser diode to bias the laser diode to a stable operating point, the timer circuit providing a control 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; and a current source, responsive to the control signal, for providing a boost current to the compensation capacitor of the control circuit; wherein the timer circuit provides the control signal having the first state for turning on the current source, and the timer circuit provides the control signal having the second state for turning off the current source; and wherein the current source comprises a pulse-width-modulated current source providing a boost current having a first duty cycle.