Analysis of direct-detection DPSK signal with homodyne crosstalk

When a differential-phase-shift-keying (DPSK) signal is directly detected using an asymmetric interferometer and balanced receiver, the exact error probability of the signal with homodyne crosstalk is derived analytically. Homodyne crosstalk from many interferers is Gaussian distributed, but the Gaussian model overestimates the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) penalty for homodyne crosstalk from a single interferer. For the DPSK signal, the crosstalk ratio for a 1-dB SNR penalty must be less than -16.5 dB. For the same crosstalk ratio, the SNR penalty for a DPSK signal is far smaller than that for an ON-OFF keying (OOK) signal.