Bit Error Probability of an Optically Pre-amplified Pulse Position Modulation Receiver with Reed Solomon Error Correction

We present results on the bit error probability (BEP) of Reed Solomon (RS) codes for an optically pre-amplified pulse position modulation receiver. We first derive analytical relations for the BEP calculation of the RS coded system and validate their accuracy via Monte Carlo simulations. The analytical relations are then utilized to assess the BEP performance of the system in the presence of weak and strong fading. Our simulations show that coding provides a net gain in weak fading, but no gain is observed in strong fading.