Performance evaluation of EDFA preamplified receivers taking into account intersymbol interference

Exact mathematical derivation of the moment generating function for an optically preamplified receiver output current is carried out. Amplified spontaneous emission noise as well as Poisson shot-noise and thermal noise originated at the receiver front-end are considered. Optical bandpass filter is also taken into account. This new global description of the stochastic processes involved in optical signal detection enables analytical assessment of the overall receiver performance without restrictions on the optical input pulse and the electronic filter response. Various bit error rate evaluation methods such as Chernoff bound, modified Chernoff bound, Gaussian approximation and saddlepoint approximation are developed based on the moment generating function and their precision compared.< >