Performance comparison of stochastic resonance receiver with Schmitt trigger, comparator, and three-level device for subthreshold signal reception

This paper discusses the stochastic resonance (SR) effect in a binary communication system for subthreshold signal reception. We focus on the problem of no communication when received signal strength is below receiver sensitivity. Subthreshold signal reception requires a device that exhibits SR, such as a Schmitt trigger or a comparator. Previously, we proposed an alternative three-level device and demonstrated its high performance for subthreshold signal reception in an SR receiver. In the present study, we show that our proposed three-level device outperforms the three devices and discuss reasons for this superior performance. Contributions of our present paper are twofold: first, we analytically derive bit error rate (BER) performances of SR receivers installed with a Schmitt trigger and a comparator;second, we compare performances of the Schmitt trigger, comparator, and three-level device.