Finite-Support Structure in i.i.d.-Constrained Capacity of Finite-Memory Poisson Channels

Discrete-time Poisson channels with finite intersymbol interference provide a natural model for direct-detection optical links in which multipath memory and signal-dependent shot noise appear simultaneously. Under peak and average optical-intensity constraints, we study the independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.)-constrained capacity problem of such channels. We prove that every input distribution maximizing the stationary mutual information rate within the i.i.d. input class has finite support. The proof is carried out directly on the entropy rate of the continuous-state hidden Markov output process induced by the finite-memory channel. We first establish a filtering-forgetting estimate whose constants are uniform over all admissible i.i.d. input laws. We then derive the entropy-rate first variation, construct a holomorphic extension of the corresponding influence function, and combine the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker condition with a supralinear growth argument.