Quantum Limits in Optical Communications
Konrad Banaszek, Ludwig Kunz, Michal Jachura, Marcin Jarzyna
2020Journal of Lightwave Technology68 citationsDOIOpen Access PDF Abstract
This tutorial reviews the Holevo capacity limit as a universal tool to analyze the ultimate transmission rates in a variety of optical communication scenarios, ranging from conventional optically amplified fiber links to free-space communication with power-limited optical signals. The canonical additive white Gaussian noise model is used to describe the propagation of the optical signal. The Holevo limit exceeds substantially the standard Shannon limit when the power spectral density of noise acquired in the course of propagation is small compared to the energy of a single photon at the carrier frequency per unit time-bandwidth area. General results are illustrated with a discussion of efficient communication strategies in the photon-starved regime.
Topics & Concepts
Optical communicationLimit (mathematics)Additive white Gaussian noiseTransmission (telecommunications)Noisy-channel coding theoremPhysicsQuantum limitElectronic engineeringQuantum information scienceOptical fiberOpticsQuantumSpectral densityQuantum channelGaussianPhotonicsGaussian noiseCommunications systemNoise (video)White noisePhotonQuantum noiseTelecommunicationsOptical powerComputer scienceFree-space optical communicationTopology (electrical circuits)Statistical physicsSignal-to-noise ratio (imaging)Quantum mechanicsOptical transistorMathematicsBit error rateRangingQuantum key distributionOptical performance monitoringEnergy (signal processing)Variety (cybernetics)Power (physics)Quantum opticsOptical Network TechnologiesQuantum Information and CryptographyAdvanced Frequency and Time Standards