Signal monitoring and control system for an optical navigation sensor

A method of operating an optical navigation sensor comprising:

• receiving a current signal from an automatic gain control (AGC) photo-detector and generating an AGC signal in response thereto;
• generating an integration time control signal in response to the AGC signal;
• coupling the integration time control signal to transimpedance-amplifiers each including an input coupled photo-detectors in an array of photo-detectors to receive current signals therefrom and an output to output a voltage signal generated in response thereto;
• and
• adjusting an integration time of the transimpedance-amplifiers over which the received current signals are integrated to generate the voltage signal.

A method of operating an optical navigation sensor comprising:

• illuminating at least a portion of an array of photo-detectors with light reflected from a surface;
• receiving in a plurality of a transimpedance-amplifiers current signals from the array of photo-detectors, each of the plurality of transimpedance-amplifiers including an input coupled to a number of photo-detectors located in a contiguous area of the array different from photo-detectors coupled to another of the plurality of transimpedance-amplifiers;
• generating from each transimpedance-amplifier an automatic gain control (AGC) signal in response to current signals received from the array of photo-detectors;
• and
• determining a spatial distribution of illumination level across the array of photo-detectors using AGC signals from the plurality of transimpedance-amplifiers.