Abstract
A transmission channel may be characterized by its capacity, i.e., the largest quantity of mean mutual information transmitted between the emitter and the receiver. The channel we have studied is a light beam traveling in the low atmosphere, and the capacity has been calculated for polarization (PCM/PL) and intensity (IM) modulation, assuming a Poisson detection process and log-normal fluctuations for scintillation. The depolarization of light has been neglected, and the polarizers have been considered perfect. The appended graphs show that PCM/PL modulation has a greater capacity in all investigated cases.
© 1977 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
Jack L. Bufton
Appl. Opt. 16(10) 2654-2660 (1977)
William E. Webb and Joseph T. Marino
Appl. Opt. 14(6) 1413-1417 (1975)
L. R. Bissonnette
Appl. Opt. 16(8) 2242-2251 (1977)