The importance of digital signal processing in high speed optical receivers

This thesis revisits high-speed digital signal processing algorithms for equalization, synchronization and performance monitoring in receivers with optical single-carrier transmission. System specific linear and nonlinear channel models are analyzed including noise statistics relevant for signal and data recovery. Original work includes MLSE for higher-order modulation formats with differential detection as well as FIR filters with frequency-domain implementation for coherent detection. Focus is given to efficient processing architectures suitable for mitigation of typical optical fiber impairments like CD, PMD and fiber nonlinearity. Adaptive channel and parameter acquisition in the context of performance monitoring complete the investigation.