Performance Analysis of Classical Data Transmission Over a Quantum Channel in the Presence of Atmospheric Turbulence

This letter presents the performance analysis of classical data transmission over a quantum channel in the presence of atmospheric turbulence. To transmit classical data, quantum coherent states are modulated over a log-normal turbulent channel for satellite-to-ground applications. The expression for the number of photons in the turbulent coherent state is approximated. Performance analysis is done in terms of error probability, channel capacity, and quantum bit error rate (QBER). The simulation results are presented using the Monte-Carlo simulation method. Numerical results show that the error performance improves with increasing the number of signal photons. However, for turbulence strength greater than 0.8, QBER increases more rapidly with a higher number of signal photons. Hence, a trade-off is essential between an achievable QBER and the number of signal photons.