Abstract: A receiver that may include a receiver front end arranged to receive (a) a received signal, (b) a reference signal generated by a local oscillator laser, and to output a first intermediate signal; a carrier phase estimator that is arranged to receive the first intermediate signal and to generate a phase estimation signal that represents a phase difference between the received signal and the reference signal; wherein the carrier phase estimator comprises a multi-symbol-differential-detection module and a carrier phase demodulator; and an output circuit arranged to receive the phase estimation signal and to apply a slicing operation to provide an output signal of the carrier phase estimator.

Abstract: A receiver that may include a receiver front end, a polyphase de-multiplexor having multiple outputs; a polyphase multiplexor having multiple inputs; and a plurality of multi-symbol-differential-detection modules coupled between the multiple outputs of the polyphase de-multiplexor and the multiple inputs of the polyphase multiplexor.

Abstract: A receiver and a multi-symbol-differential-detection (MSDD) module, the MSDD may include an input node for receiving an input signal having a noisy phase; a summation and rotation unit; and an output unit; wherein the output unit is arranged to output an output signal and a normalized output signal; wherein the output signal represents the input signal but has a reconstructed phase; wherein the summation and rotation unit is arranged to receive the input signal and the output signal and to provide a reference signal that reflects a weighted sum of phase rotated and delayed previously received input signals; wherein the output unit comprises a phase difference calculator, a slicer, a delay unit and a normalizer; wherein the phase difference calculator is arranged to generate a difference signal indicative of a phase difference between the reference signal and the input signal; wherein the slicer and the delay unit are arranged to generate the output signal by slicing the difference signal to provide a sliced s

Abstract: A receiver that includes a carrier recovery module that includes a reference signal generator that is arranged to generate a reference signal that estimates a carrier signal; a decision module that is arranged to demodulate a receiver input signal by the reference signal to provide a demodulated signal and to evaluate the demodulated signal to provide an decision module output signal that estimates the carrier signal; the reference signal generator includes a delay and rotation module that is arranged to delay receiver input signals to provide delayed receiver input signals and to align the delayed receiver input signals by a rotation that is responsive to the decision module output signal thereby providing aligned signals; and a multiplication and summation module that is arranged to generate the reference signal by calculating a weighted sum of the aligned signals.

Abstract: A receiver and a multi-symbol-differential-detection (MSDD) module, the MSDD may include an input node for receiving an input signal having a noisy phase; a summation and rotation unit; and an output unit; wherein the output unit is arranged to output an output signal and a normalized output signal; wherein the output signal represents the input signal but has a reconstructed phase; wherein the summation and rotation unit is arranged to receive the input signal and the output signal and to provide a reference signal that reflects a weighted sum of phase rotated and delayed previously received input signals; wherein the output unit comprises a phase difference calculator, a slicer, a delay unit and a normalizer; wherein the phase difference calculator is arranged to generate a difference signal indicative of a phase difference between the reference signal and the input signal; wherein the slicer and the delay unit are arranged to generate the output signal by slicing the difference signal to provide a sliced s

Abstract: A receiver that includes a carrier recovery module that includes a reference signal generator that is arranged to generate a reference signal that estimates a carrier signal; a decision module that is arranged to demodulate a receiver input signal by the reference signal to provide a demodulated signal and to evaluate the demodulated signal to provide an decision module output signal that estimates the carrier signal; the reference signal generator includes a delay and rotation module that is arranged to delay receiver input signals to provide delayed receiver input signals and to align the delayed receiver input signals by a rotation that is responsive to the decision module output signal thereby providing aligned signals; and a multiplication and summation module that is arranged to generate the reference signal by calculating a weighted sum of the aligned signals.