Performance analysis of asynchronous optical code division multiple access with spectral-amplitudecoding

In this study, the performance of a spectral-amplitude-coding optical code division multiple access (SAC-OCDMA) system in the asynchronous regime is evaluated using a Gaussian approximation of the decision variable for codes with fixed cross-correlation used in SAC-OCDMA systems. The authors consider the effect of phase-induced intensity noise (PIIN), thermal noise and shot noise. Moreover, the validity of the Gaussian approximation is confirmed by a Kolmogorov-Smirnov fitness test. For sake of comparison, the bit error rate (BER) of the asynchronous SAC-OCDMA system is also plotted numerically in comparison with the BER of the synchronous SAC-OCDMA. They show that a SAC-OCDMA system without any time management for the users, that is, the asynchronous regime, has a better performance than the synchronous SAC-OCDMA when PIIN effect exists.