Patent ID: 8653434

Claim:
A method for optimizing the operating voltage Vop of an avalanche photo-diode (APD), the method comprising: setting Vop to a first value which is less than an initially estimated breakdown voltage for the APD; determining a first response of the APD to an on-board light source at the first Vop value; setting Vop to an updated value which is less than the initially estimated breakdown voltage and different from the previous value of Vop; determining an updated response of the APD to the on-board light source; determining an updated estimated breakdown voltage according to the updated value of Vop, the updated response, the immediately previous value of Vop, and the immediately previous response; setting Vop to an offset value which is offset below the updated estimated breakdown voltage by a fixed offset amount; and repeating the steps of determining an updated response, determining an updated estimated breakdown voltage, and setting the Vop to an offset value, until at least one of a convergence criterion is met and a maximum number of repetitions is reached, each estimated breakdown voltage being determined according to a most recently set value of Vop, a most recent response, an immediately previous value of Vop, and an immediately previous response.