Patent ID: 7277177

Claim:
An apparatus for controlling a light source for use with a resonant cavity, the apparatus comprising: a detector coupled to an output of the resonant cavity, the detector generating a detection signal; a threshold generator for generating a threshold signal based on a first output signal from the resonant cavity; a comparator coupled to the detector and the threshold generator and receiving the detection signal and the threshold signal as inputs, the comparator generating a second output signal based on a comparison of the detection signal and the threshold signal; a controller coupled to the comparator for receiving the output signal from the comparator, the controller generating a control signal to at least one of activate and deactivate the light source based on the comparison; a first delay circuit coupled to the controller for generating a first delay signal to the controller responsive to the control signal; and a second delay circuit coupled to the controller for generating a second delay signal to the controller to allow the light source to stabilize before new data is accepted.