Analysis of the Optical Amplifier Noise Effect on Electrooptically Generated Hyperchaos

A theoretical analysis regarding the determination of the optical amplifier noise effect on the performance of optical chaos communications using semiconductor lasers with electrooptical feedback is carried out. Analytical expressions for the synchronization error and the signal-to-noise ratio of the extracted message are obtained and verified by extensive numerical simulations. Fiber transmission simulations are also carried out to identify under which circumstances the amplifier noise effect is the dominant impairment.