Noise-Enhanced subthreshold signal reception by a stochastic resonance receiver using a non-dynamical device

Stochastic resonance (SR) is an interesting phenomenon in that noise enhances system response. Despite attractive phenomenon of SR that noise enhances system response, enhancement of the weak signal below device sensitivity, and few researchers have addressed the SR effect in communication systems. This paper discusses the SR effect in communication systems. We focus on the problem in which communication cannot be established when the received signal strength is below receiver sensitivity. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the bit error rate (BER) performance of the SR receiver and reveal the SR effect in communication systems. We propose an analysis method for the SR receiver using a non-dynamical device that exhibits SR effect. The numerical results show that the SR effect can improve the BER compared to a system without SR. The contribution of the paper is two folds: The first contribution of our present study is that the BER of the SR receiver using a non-dynamical device can analytically be derived. The second contribution of our study is that the number of samples per symbol, the received signal amplitude, and the receiver sensitivity are three important parameters. We further derive the maximum performance gain by the SR system. Although our focus is on primary communication systems; however, our findings can be applied to other systems.