Bit-error-rate analysis of a 16-user gigabit ethernet optical-CDMA (O-CDMA) technology demonstrator using wavelength/time codes

This letter describes a technology demonstrator for an incoherent optical code-division multiple-access scheme based on wavelength/time codes. The system supports 16 users operating at 1.25 Gsymbols/s/user while maintaining bit-error rate (BER) <10/sup -11/ for the correctly decoded signal. Experiments support previous simulations which show that coherent beat noise, occurring between the signal and multiple access interference, ultimately limits system performance.