All-optical 2/sup n/ extended prime codes for optical fiber code-division multiple-access applications

Abstract

We propose a new family of 2/sup n/ codes, called 2/sup n/ extended prime codes, for all-optical code-division multiple access (CDMA) networks. These 2/sup n/ codes are derived from "extended" prime codes such that their cross-correlation functions are not greater than one, as opposed to two in previously proposed 2/sup n/ prime codes. As a result, a larger number of active users can now be supported by the new codes in all-optical CDMA networks where optical multiple-access interference is a major performance limiting factor. Moreover, power-efficient, waveguide-integrable all-serial coding and correlating configurations proposed for the 2/sup n/ prime codes can still be employed by the new codes.