Patent ID: 7039329

Claim:
A method for increasing upstream communication in an optical network comprising the steps of: receiving an optical signal that is formatted according to a network protocol and predetermined timing scheme and having a predetermined encoding scheme that provides transitions per code group of data to facilitate clock recovery; increasing a speed in which a detecting circuit can receive and convert optical signals to electrical signals by adjusting a time constant of the detecting circuit according to a predetermined frequency of the data that is dependent upon the network protocol and encoding scheme; increasing a speed in which an automatic gain control circuit coupled to the detecting circuit can adjust gain between different optical signals received by the detecting circuit by adjusting a time constant according to the predetermined frequency, the automatic gain control circuit comprising a first amplifier for comparing voltages; receiving electrical signals from the detecting circuit with a limiting circuit; and increasing a speed in which the limiting circuit can convert the electrical signals to digital data signals by adjusting a time constant according to the predetermined frequency, the limiting circuit comprising a second amplifier.