Patent ID: 8204700

Claim:
A failure prediction apparatus for predicting a failure of a laser diode, comprising: an input configured to input a value of a current that flows through the laser diode and is measured at predetermined time intervals; a storage configured to store the current values inputted by said input, each of the current values being stored in a paired manner with a measurement time of day; a detector configured to detect a current value that is a current value at any one of the measurement times of day stored in said storage and that has a change greater than or equal to a predetermined value relative to the current value at the preceding measurement time of day; and a generator configured to generate a prediction curve, the prediction curve indicating a relationship between said elapsed time and the current value applicable at and after the measurement time of day of the current value detected by said detector on the basis of the current value detected by said detector and change information concerning a current value corresponding to an elapsed time from beginning of usage of the laser diode, wherein said generator generates a prediction curve on the basis of: the current value detected by said detector; and characteristics information that is characteristics information defined in advance on the basis of component characteristics of the laser diode and that indicates a change in the current value corresponding to said elapsed time until a failure of the laser diode, wherein said generator comprises: a difference information storage storing difference information comprise of a pair of a difference between the current value detected by said detector and the current value at the preceding measurement time of day and said elapsed time until the measurement time of day of the current value detected by said detector; a curve judge judging whether a difference between the current value detected by said detector and a current value corresponding to the measurement time of day of the current value on an already generated prediction curve is greater than or equal to a predetermined value; a number-of-information-pieces judge judging whether the number of difference information pieces stored in said difference information storage is greater than or equal to a predetermined value when said curve judge judges that the difference is greater than or equal to the predetermined value; and a prediction curve corrector correcting said prediction curve on the basis of the difference information in said difference information storage when said number-of-information-pieces judge judges that the number of difference information pieces is greater than or equal to the predetermined number, and correcting said prediction curve on the basis of said characteristics information when said number-of-information-pieces judge judges that the number of difference information pieces is smaller than the predetermined number.