Patent ID: 7375889

Claim:
A method for resetting a polarization controllers comprising: determining that a phase magnitude is associated with a first range of phase angles, and generating a first control signal having a first characteristic if the phase magnitude is increasing, and generating the first control signal having a second characteristic if the phase magnitude is decreasing; and determining that the phase magnitude is associated with a second range of phase angles, and generating the first control signal having the second characteristic if the phase magnitude is increasing, generating the first control signal having the first characteristic if the phase magnitude is decreasing; generating a second control signal having a first state if the phase magnitude is associated with a first range of phase angles; generating the second control signal having a second state if the phase magnitude is associated with a second range of phase angles; and applying the second control signal to at least two half-wave plates, wherein the first state is an on-state and the second state is an off-state.