PPM Receiver Implemented in Software

A computer program has been written as a tool for developing optical pulse-position-modulation (PPM) receivers in which photodetector outputs are fed to analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and all subsequent signal processing is performed digitally. The program can be used, for example, to simulate an all-digital version of the PPM receiver described in “Parallel Processing of Broad-Band PPM Signals” (NPO-40711), which appears elsewhere in this issue of NASA Tech Briefs. The program can also be translated into a design for digital PPM-receiver hardware.