Classical Capacity of a Bayesian Inference Quantum Channel Employing Photon Counting Detectors

Recently we investigated the potential improvements in key transmission rate in a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) scheme whereby photon-counting detectors are used at the receiver. To take full advantage of such detectors, soft information is generated in the form of Log-Likelihood Ratios (LLRs) using a Bayesian estimator of phase of the signal pulse which is used to carry the information. We achieved significant reduction in the residual Bit Error Rate (BER) and Frame Error Rate (FER) using LDPC codes in the information reconciliation process. In this paper we explore the limits of the achievable performance gains when using photon counting detectors as compared to the case when such detectors are not available. To this end, we find the classical capacity of the Bayesian inference channel clearly showing the potential gains that photon counting detectors can provide in the context of a realistic cost-effective scheme from an implementation point of view. While there are binary communication schemes that can achieve a higher capacity for a given mean photon count at the receiver compared to the scheme presented here (e.g., the Dolinar receiver), most such schemes are complex and at times unrealistic from an implementation point of view.