2,691 research outputs found
Approaching the ultimate capacity limit in deep-space optical communication
The information capacity of an optical channel under power constraints is
ultimately limited by the quantum nature of transmitted signals. We discuss
currently available and emerging photonic technologies whose combination can be
shown theoretically to enable nearly quantum-limited operation of a noisy
optical communication link in the photon-starved regime, with the information
rate scaling linearly in the detected signal power. The key ingredients are
quantum pulse gating to facilitate mode selectivity, photon-number-resolved
direct detection, and a photon-efficient high-order modulation format such as
pulse position modulation, frequency shift keying, or binary phase shift keyed
Hadamard words decoded optically using structured receivers.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures. Presented at Free-Space Laser Communications
XXXI, 4-6 February 2019, San Francisco, C
On Approaching the Ultimate Limits of Photon-Efficient and Bandwidth-Efficient Optical Communication
It is well known that ideal free-space optical communication at the quantum
limit can have unbounded photon information efficiency (PIE), measured in bits
per photon. High PIE comes at a price of low dimensional information efficiency
(DIE), measured in bits per spatio-temporal-polarization mode. If only temporal
modes are used, then DIE translates directly to bandwidth efficiency. In this
paper, the DIE vs. PIE tradeoffs for known modulations and receiver structures
are compared to the ultimate quantum limit, and analytic approximations are
found in the limit of high PIE. This analysis shows that known structures fall
short of the maximum attainable DIE by a factor that increases linearly with
PIE for high PIE.
The capacity of the Dolinar receiver is derived for binary coherent-state
modulations and computed for the case of on-off keying (OOK). The DIE vs. PIE
tradeoff for this case is improved only slightly compared to OOK with photon
counting. An adaptive rule is derived for an additive local oscillator that
maximizes the mutual information between a receiver and a transmitter that
selects from a set of coherent states. For binary phase-shift keying (BPSK),
this is shown to be equivalent to the operation of the Dolinar receiver.
The Dolinar receiver is extended to make adaptive measurements on a coded
sequence of coherent state symbols. Information from previous measurements is
used to adjust the a priori probabilities of the next symbols. The adaptive
Dolinar receiver does not improve the DIE vs. PIE tradeoff compared to
independent transmission and Dolinar reception of each symbol.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures; corrected a typo in equation 3
PPM demodulation: On approaching fundamental limits of optical communications
We consider the problem of demodulating M-ary optical PPM (pulse-position
modulation) waveforms, and propose a structured receiver whose mean probability
of symbol error is smaller than all known receivers, and approaches the quantum
limit. The receiver uses photodetection coupled with optimized phase-coherent
optical feedback control and a phase-sensitive parametric amplifier. We present
a general framework of optical receivers known as the conditional pulse nulling
receiver, and present new results on ultimate limits and achievable regions of
spectral versus photon efficiency tradeoffs for the single-spatial-mode
pure-loss optical communication channel.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, IEEE ISIT, Austin, TX (2010
Quantum Communication, Sensing and Measurement in Space
The main theme of the conclusions drawn for classical communication systems
operating at optical or higher frequencies is that there is a wellâunderstood
performance gain in photon efficiency (bits/photon) and spectral efficiency
(bits/s/Hz) by pursuing coherentâstate transmitters (classical ideal laser light)
coupled with novel quantum receiver systems operating near the Holevo limit (e.g.,
joint detection receivers). However, recent research indicates that these receivers
will require nonlinear and nonclassical optical processes and components at the
receiver. Consequently, the implementation complexity of Holevoâcapacityapproaching
receivers is not yet fully ascertained. Nonetheless, because the
potential gain is significant (e.g., the projected photon efficiency and data rate of
MIT Lincoln Laboratory's Lunar Lasercom Demonstration (LLCD) could be achieved
with a factorâofâ20 reduction in the modulation bandwidth requirement), focused
research activities on groundâreceiver architectures that approach the Holevo limit
in spaceâcommunication links would be beneficial.
The potential gains resulting from quantumâenhanced sensing systems in space
applications have not been laid out as concretely as some of the other areas
addressed in our study. In particular, while the study period has produced several
interesting highârisk and highâpayoff avenues of research, more detailed seedlinglevel
investigations are required to fully delineate the potential return relative to
the stateâofâtheâart. Two prominent examples are (1) improvements to pointing,
acquisition and tracking systems (e.g., for optical communication systems) by way
of quantum measurements, and (2) possible weakâvalued measurement techniques
to attain highâaccuracy sensing systems for in situ or remoteâsensing instruments.
While these concepts are technically sound and have very promising benchâtop
demonstrations in a lab environment, they are not mature enough to realistically
evaluate their performance in a spaceâbased application. Therefore, it is
recommended that future work follow small focused efforts towards incorporating
practical constraints imposed by a space environment.
The space platform has been well recognized as a nearly ideal environment for some
of the most precise tests of fundamental physics, and the ensuing potential of
scientific advances enabled by quantum technologies is evident in our report. For
example, an exciting concept that has emerged for gravityâwave detection is that the
intermediate frequency band spanning 0.01 to 10 Hzâwhich is inaccessible from
the groundâcould be accessed at unprecedented sensitivity with a spaceâbased
interferometer that uses shorter arms relative to stateâofâtheâart to keep the
diffraction losses low, and employs frequencyâdependent squeezed light to surpass
the standard quantum limit sensitivity. This offers the potential to open up a new
window into the universe, revealing the behavior of compact astrophysical objects
and pulsars. As another set of examples, research accomplishments in the atomic
and optics fields in recent years have ushered in a number of novel clocks and
sensors that can achieve unprecedented measurement precisions. These emerging
technologies promise new possibilities in fundamental physics, examples of which
are tests of relativistic gravity theory, universality of free fall, frameâdragging
precession, the gravitational inverseâsquare law at micron scale, and new ways of gravitational wave detection with atomic inertial sensors. While the relevant
technologies and their discovery potentials have been well demonstrated on the
ground, there exists a large gap to spaceâbased systems. To bridge this gap and to
advance fundamentalâphysics exploration in space, focused investments that further
mature promising technologies, such as spaceâbased atomic clocks and quantum
sensors based on atomâwave interferometers, are recommended.
Bringing a group of experts from diverse technical backgrounds together in a
productive interactive environment spurred some unanticipated innovative
concepts. One promising concept is the possibility of utilizing a spaceâbased
interferometer as a frequency reference for terrestrial precision measurements.
Spaceâbased gravitational wave detectors depend on extraordinarily low noise in
the separation between spacecraft, resulting in an ultraâstable frequency reference
that is several orders of magnitude better than the state of the art of frequency
references using terrestrial technology. The next steps in developing this promising
new concept are simulations and measurement of atmospheric effects that may limit
performance due to nonâreciprocal phase fluctuations.
In summary, this report covers a broad spectrum of possible new opportunities in
space science, as well as enhancements in the performance of communication and
sensing technologies, based on observing, manipulating and exploiting the
quantumâmechanical nature of our universe. In our study we identified a range of
exciting new opportunities to capture the revolutionary capabilities resulting from
quantum enhancements. We believe that pursuing these opportunities has the
potential to positively impact the NASA mission in both the near term and in the
long term. In this report we lay out the research and development paths that we
believe are necessary to realize these opportunities and capitalize on the gains
quantum technologies can offer
One photon-per-bit receiver using near-noiseless phase-sensitive amplification
Noise fundamentally limits the capacity and reach in all communication links.
In optical space communications, noise primarily originates from the detection
process and limits the signal fidelity. . Therefore, the receiver sensitivity
plays a key role, dictating the minimum power needed to recover the information
transmitted. The widely explored approach of using the pulse-position
modulation format trades-off sensitivity against receiver bandwidth and thus
data-rate. Here we report on a novel, spectrally efficient, approach based on a
coherent receiver with a near-noiseless phase-sensitive pre-amplifier operating
at room temperature and demonstrate a sensitivity of one photon-per-bit of
incident power at a data rate of 10 Gb/s. The results provide a path to future
high-capacity inter-satellite and deep space, and other free-space
communication linksComment: 12 pages, 3 figure
Toward Photon-Efficient Key Distribution over Optical Channels
This work considers the distribution of a secret key over an optical
(bosonic) channel in the regime of high photon efficiency, i.e., when the
number of secret key bits generated per detected photon is high. While in
principle the photon efficiency is unbounded, there is an inherent tradeoff
between this efficiency and the key generation rate (with respect to the
channel bandwidth). We derive asymptotic expressions for the optimal generation
rates in the photon-efficient limit, and propose schemes that approach these
limits up to certain approximations. The schemes are practical, in the sense
that they use coherent or temporally-entangled optical states and direct
photodetection, all of which are reasonably easy to realize in practice, in
conjunction with off-the-shelf classical codes.Comment: In IEEE Transactions on Information Theory; same version except that
labels are corrected for Schemes S-1, S-2, and S-3, which appear as S-3, S-4,
and S-5 in the Transaction
Photon number correlation for quantum enhanced imaging and sensing
In this review we present the potentialities and the achievements of the use
of non-classical photon number correlations in twin beams (TWB) states for many
applications, ranging from imaging to metrology. Photon number correlations in
the quantum regime are easy to be produced and are rather robust against
unavoidable experimental losses, and noise in some cases, if compared to the
entanglement, where loosing one photon can completely compromise the state and
its exploitable advantage. Here, we will focus on quantum enhanced protocols in
which only phase-insensitive intensity measurements (photon number counting)
are performed, which allow probing transmission/absorption properties of a
system, leading for example to innovative target detection schemes in a strong
background. In this framework, one of the advantages is that the sources
experimentally available emit a wide number of pairwise correlated modes, which
can be intercepted and exploited separately, for example by many pixels of a
camera, providing a parallelism, essential in several applications, like wide
field sub-shot-noise imaging and quantum enhanced ghost imaging. Finally,
non-classical correlation enables new possibilities in quantum radiometry, e.g.
the possibility of absolute calibration of a spatial resolving detector from
the on-off- single photon regime to the linear regime, in the same setup
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