The sensitivity performance of an optically preamplified PPM receiver is evaluated, including the effect of timing jitter, through the use of an improved Gaussian approximation. A potential sensitivity of 23.6 photons/bit is demonstrated in the unjittered case, for the parameters considered, with the jittered optimum being at worst only 1 dB less sensitive. These results both surpass the fundamental sensitivity limit of an on-off keyed non-return to zero (OOK NRZ) system. The results predict that wrong slot and jitter errors first become dominant at a PPM coding level higher than that suggested by an earlier model.

Date Published: 1 December 1995
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 2614, All-Optical Communication Systems: Architecture, Control, and Network Issues, (1 December 1995); doi: 10.1117/12.227838

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2614:
All-Optical Communication Systems: Architecture, Control, and Network Issues
Vincent W. S. Chan; Robert A. Cryan; John M. Senior, Editor(s)