Performance analysis optimization and experimental verification of a photon-counting communication system based on non-photon-number-resolution detectors

• Published in: Optics communications Vol. 468; p. 125771
• Main Authors: Wen, Guanhua, Huang, Jun, Dai, Jiansheng, Zhang, Liang, Wang, Jianyu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.08.2020
• Subjects: Binary asymmetric channel; Non-photon-number-resolution detection; Photon-counting communication; Serially concatenated pulse position modulation; Single-pixel SPAD; Single-pixel SPAD; Binary asymmetric channel; Non-photon-number-resolution detection; Serially concatenated pulse position modulation; Photon-counting communication
• ISSN: 0030-4018; 1873-0310
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optcom.2020.125771

With the increase in free-space optical communication distance and link attenuation, photon-counting communication based on a single photon detector will be the development trend in the future. In this paper, we use a single-pixel single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) detector to study the bit error rate (BER) performance of photon counting communication. As the single-pixel SPAD cannot distinguish the number of photons in a single detection event, we theoretically derive the (BER) model of a pulse position modulation (PPM) communication system based on a single-pixel SPAD detector. Then, the binary asymmetric channel (BAC) model is adopted to modify the channel log-likelihood in Serially Concatenated Pulse Position Modulation (SCPPM) decoding. Research results show that, when the BER is 10−6 , the photon efficiency can reach 1.6 photon per bit (PPB) in the modified BAC scheme with 0.1 photon/slot noise intensity, which is 28.6% better than the photon efficiency of 2.24 PPB in the unmodified Poisson channel scheme. •The BER model of a PPM communication system using non-photon number-resolved detectors is theoretically deduced.•The SCPPM coding scheme is used to ensure reliable communication.•A more accurate BAC model is used instead of the Poisson channel model to reduce the communication BER.