Digital optical receiver output voltage probability distribution including gain statistics of an avalanche photodiode

摘要

A numerical method is described for obtaining the non-Gaussian probability distribution of the voltage at the output of a digital optical receiver which accounts for the gain statistics of a uniformly multiplying avalanche photodiode (APD), as well as a specified bit rate, symbol shape, and receiver impulse response. The method involves taking the inverse discrete Fourier transform of the characteristic function for the output voltage.