Patent ID: 7277173

Claim:
An arrangement for controlling the alignment direction of a light beam comprising: an active light source for emitting a beam of light; a passive receiver of light; a MEMS mirror for receiving said beam of light from said active source and for reflecting said beam of light toward said passive receiver of light wherein said MEMS mirror is electrically controlled to change its deflection profile until alignment is achieved between the active light source and the passive receiver of light; a monitoring photodiode disposed at a location separate from the passive receiver of light and coupled in a feedback path to the active light source; and a beam splitter associated with the MEMS mirror to enable said MEMS mirror to split the beam emitted from said active light source into a first beam and a second beam wherein said first beam is directed toward the passive receiver of light and said second beam is directed toward said monitoring photodiode, wherein a power measurement of said second beam is converted to an electrical signal by the monitoring photodiode and used to electrically change the deflection profile of said MEMS mirror.