Error performance of preamplified optical PPM systems with finite extinction ratios

Abstract

In this paper, we present an analytical study of the error performance in optically preamplified, M-ary pulse position modulation, in free-space optical communication systems with finite extinction ratios. We derive a theoretical expression for the probability of bit error and compute it numerically for different symbol sizes and extinction ratios. We also provide the power penalty due to a finite extinction ratio for both coded and uncoded systems. The study shows that, in certain cases and for a given extinction ratio, lower symbol sizes may yield an error performance similar to that achieved by higher symbol sizes.