Optimum reception of a pulsed optical signal with unknown time of arrival

We obtain and compare the maximum-likelihood and Bayesian algorithms for detecting a signal and measuring its arrival time. Using computer statistical simulation, we test the robustness of the synthesized algorithms and determine the validity ranges of the asymptotic formulas for their characteristics. Voronezh State University, Voronezh, Russia. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 42, No. 12, pp. 1201–1212, December 1999.