Photoparametric amplifier for optical wireless communication system

In this article a novel receiver based on Photoparametric Amplifier (PPA), which one of the alternative for receiver detection and amplification techniques is fully described. The PPA mode of operation involves optical detection and amplification within a single device. The amplifier operation is based on nonlinear characteristics of the photodiode and therefore, the mechanism constituting gain is highly nonlinear and different to that in conventional amplifier/mixer chain. It is able to provide selectivity and sensitivity at the same time, as required for wireless optical communications. In the proposed approach, the detector, front-end amplifier and mixer chain, are replaced by a single device, which reduced component count and therefore cost directly. Under optimum test conditions, the research group has demonstrated a power gain of 17 dB over a baseband detector (BW of 25 MHz), with improved noise performance.