Optical receiver using single ended voltage offset measurement

1. An optical receiver comprising:

a) an optical detector that detects an optical signal and generates a photocurrent at an output that represents a power of the detected optical signal;

b) a transimpedance amplifier having an input coupled to the output of the optical detector, the transimpedance amplifier generating a voltage signal corresponding to the photocurrent;

c) an offset voltage generator having an output that is coupled to a second input of the transimpedance amplifier, the offset voltage generator generating an offset voltage at the output that biases the voltage signal generated by the transimpedance amplifier;

d) a switch having a first input electrically connected to the output of the transimpedance amplifier and a second input electrically connected to the output of the offset voltage generator, the switch switching one of the voltage signal generated by the transimpedance amplifier and the offset voltage to an output in response to a control signal applied to a control input of the switch; and

e) a subtractor having an input coupled to the output of the switch, the subtractor subtracting the offset voltage signal from the voltage signal generated by the transimpedance amplifier voltage signal, thereby recovering the voltage signal corresponding to the photocurrent that represents the power of the detected optical signal.

2. The optical receiver of claim 1 wherein the optical detector comprises a tunable optical detector.

3. The optical receiver of claim 1 wherein the optical detector comprises a thermally tunable optical detector.

4. The optical receiver of claim 1 wherein the offset voltage generator comprises a voltage divider.

5. The optical receiver of claim 1 wherein an output of the offset voltage generator biases the transimpedance amplifier.

6. The optical receiver of claim 1 further comprising a processor having an output that is electrically connected to the control input of the switch.

7. The optical receiver of claim 1 wherein an accuracy of the voltage signal corresponding to the photocurrent that represents the detected optical signal is substantially independent of variations of the offset voltage generated by the offset voltage generator.

8. The optical receiver of claim 1 further comprising an amplifier having an input that is electrically connected to the output of the subtractor, the amplifier amplifying the voltage signal corresponding to the photocurrent that represents the power of the detected optical signal with a gain.

9. The optical receiver of claim 8 wherein an accuracy of the amplified voltage signal corresponding to the photocurrent that represents the power of the detected optical signal is substantially independent of variations of the gain of the amplifier.

10. The optical receiver of claim 1 wherein the optical receiver comprises a single-ended optical receiver.

11. The optical receiver of claim 1 wherein the subtractor comprises a signal processor.

12. A method of detecting a low power optical signal, the method comprising:

a) detecting a low power optical signal with an optical detector and generating a photocurrent proportional to a power of the optical signal;

b) applying an offset voltage to a first input of a transimpedance amplifier;

c) measuring the offset voltage applied to the first input of the transimpedance amplifier;

d) applying the photocurrent to a second input of the transimpedance amplifier and generating a voltage signal with the transimpedance amplifier from the photocurrent that represents the power of the optical signal;

e) switching between the voltage signal generated by the transimpedance amplifier and the offset voltage applied to the first input of the transimpedance amplifier; and

f) subtracting the offset voltage signal from the voltage signal generated by the transimpedance amplifier, thereby recovering the voltage signal that represents the power of the optical signal.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the detecting the low power optical signal comprises detecting the low power optical signal with a tunable optical detector.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the detecting the low power optical signal comprises detecting the low power optical signal with a thermally tunable optical detector.

15. The method of claim 12 further comprising generating the offset voltage from a voltage reference source.

16. The method of claim 12 further comprising generating the offset voltage from a bias voltage used to bias the transimpedance amplifier.

17. The method of claim 12 further comprising amplifying the voltage signal that represents the power of the optical signal with a gain.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein an accuracy of the amplified voltage signal that represents the power of the optical signal is independent of variations of the gain.

19. The method of claim 12 wherein an accuracy of the voltage signal that represents the power of the optical signal is independent of variations of the offset voltage.

20. A receiver comprising:

a) a means for detecting an optical signal and generating a photocurrent at an output that represents a power of a detected optical signal;

b) a means for generating a voltage signal corresponding to the photocurrent that represents the detected optical signal;

c) a means for generating an offset voltage that biases the voltage signal;

d) a means for switching between the voltage signal corresponding to the photocurrent that represents the detected optical signal and the offset voltage; and

e) a means for subtracting the offset voltage signal from the biased voltage signal, thereby recovering the voltage signal that represents the power of the optical signal.

21. The receiver of claim 20 further comprising a means for amplifying the voltage signal that represents the power of the optical signal.