Performance of a 1 Gbit/s optically preamplified communication system with error correcting coding

Abstract

Threshold decoding of a rate 4/5 convolutional code is shown to improve the performance of a 1 Gbit/s optically preamplified on-off keyed (OOK) system by 3.7 dB to achieve a receiver sensitivity of 37 photon/bit (−56.2 dBm). The encoder/decoder is implemented as a single monolithic integrated circuit.