Error Performance of M-ary DPPM Communication System

Error performance in optical communication, where the information is transmitted by means of the differential pulse-position modulated optical carrier, is discussed. Additive independent background radiation and thermal noise are taken into account. Both threshold type and maximum value type of decision schemes are also considered. The effects of several parameters, such as the number of time slots, the duty ratio, the extinction ratio, the count dimension, the signal-to-background radiation power ratio, and the signal-to-thermal noise power ratio are discussed in detail. The detection characteristic of this system are made clear by comparison with a pulse-position modulation system.