Analysis of delay-and-multiply optical FSK receivers with line-coding and non-flat laser FM response

We present a theoretical analysis of the performance of coherent optical FSK systems when the driving laser signal is AMI or Manchester (biphase) line-coded to counteract the nonideal FM characteristic of the transmit laser diode, and the received signal is heterodyned and detected by a delay-and-multiply demodulator. The analysis takes into account IF filtering by assuming linear filtering of the noisy signal phase, accounting, for small linewidths, for laser phase noise in a straightforward and accurate manner. A simple equivalent baseband model of the system is derived for performance evaluation, applicable to both cases of large demodulator delay and when the delay tends to zero (ideal discriminator). Noise statistics include the clicks due to both signal and phase noise. The problem of performance evaluation is reduced to a classical intersymbol interference problem which is solved by mead of the method of Gauss quadrature rules. The analysis accurately predicts the effectiveness of AMI and Manchester line coding, depending on several system parameters such as linewidth, modulation index, IF bandwidth and laser FM response, and can be easily extended to other line coding techniques.<>