Patent ID: 7838808

Claim:
A method for detecting a laser light beam, said method comprising: (a) receiving a laser light signal, and converting said laser light signal into a plurality of electrical signals by use of a plurality of photosensors; (b) determining a signal strength of each of said plurality of electrical signals; (c) determining an active sensing area of each of said plurality of photosensors; and (d) analyzing said signal strengths and said active sensing areas, and from that information, determining whether said received laser light signal substantially comprised reflected light, wherein: said step of determining a signal strength of each of said plurality of electrical signals comprises combining, in a predetermined electrical connection pattern, said plurality of electrical signals into two separate output signals; and said step of analyzing said signal strengths and said active sensing areas comprises: (i) calculating a first ratio of signal magnitudes of said two separate output signals; (ii) calculating a second ratio of a predetermined spatial pattern of said active sensing areas of the plurality of photosensors; (iii) determining whether numeric values for said first and second ratios are within a predetermined range of values, and if so, determining that said received laser light beam was reflected light.