Patent attributes
An optical receiver includes a light-receiving part and a control part. The light-receiving part includes an APD, a PIN-PD, and a branching optical device. First signal light is incident on the light-receiving part and is divided into second signal light and third signal light which are incident on the APD and the PIN-PD, respectively, by the branching optical device. Due to this structure, the third signal light is incident on the PIN-PD without the quantity thereof being varied depending on the polarization state of the first signal light. The control part generates a supply voltage at which a desired avalanche multiplication factor is obtained in the APD on the basis of the output current from the PIN-PD. According to the above-described structure, the avalanche multiplication factor of the APD is accurately controlled on the basis of the output current of the PIN-PD.
