Laser drive integrated circuit and optical disk apparatus using the same

An optical disk apparatus comprising:

• a first laser diode used for recording data on a first type of optical disk or reproducing data from the first type of optical disk;
• a second laser diode used for recording data on a second type of optical disk or reproducing data from the second type of optical disk;
• a controller used for controlling the operation of the first and second laser diodes;
• and
• a laser driver integrated circuit (IC) arranged to drive the first and second laser diodes based on an input signal from the controller, said laser driver IC comprising:
• a drive waveform generating unit for generating a drive waveform signal based on the input signal from the controller;
• a first current supply unit for supplying a first drive current to the first laser diode;
• a second current supply unit for supplying a second drive current to the second laser diode;
• and
• a switching unit disposed between the drive waveform generating unit and the respective first and second current supply units, for selectively supplying the drive waveform signal generated by the drive waveform generating unit to one of the first and second supply units.

A laser driver integrated circuit (IC) comprising:

• a drive waveform generating unit which generates a drive waveform signal based on an input signal from an external control circuit;
• a first current supply unit which supplies a first drive current to a first laser diode based on the drive waveform signal;
• a second current supply unit which supplies a second drive current to a second laser diode based on the drive waveform signal;
• and
• a switching unit disposed between the drive waveform generating unit and the respective first and second current supply units, which selectively supplies the drive waveform signal to one of the first current supply unit and the second current supply unit,
• wherein the drive waveform generating unit is commonly used by the first and second laser diodes.

An optical disk apparatus comprising:

• a first laser diode used for recording data on a first type of optical disk or reproducing data from the first type of optical disk;
• a second laser diode used for recording data on a second type of optical disk or reproducing data from the second type of optical disk;
• a controller used for controlling the operation of the first and second laser diodes;
• and
• a laser driver integrated circuit (IC) arranged to drive the first and second laser diodes based on an input signal from the controller, said laser driver IC comprising:
• a drive waveform generating unit for generating a drive waveform signal based on the input signal from the controller;
• a first current supply unit for supplying a first drive current to the first laser diode;
• and
• a second current supply unit for supplying a second drive current to the second laser diode;
• and
• a switching unit disposed between the drive waveform generating unit and the respective first and second current supply units, for selectively supplying the drive waveform signal generated by the drive waveform generating unit to one of the first and second supply units.