Optical code-division-multiplexed systems based on spectral encoding of noncoherent sources

Presents a new category of optical CDMA systems which work based on spectral encoding. In such systems, that the authors refer to as frequency-encoded CDMA (FE-CDMA) systems, the coding is done in the frequency domain while in the usual CDMA systems the code multiplies the modulation signal in the time domain. They present a new type of FE-CDMA system, based on encoding noncoherent broadband sources. They discuss the advantages of the system compared to other optical CDMA systems and present its performance. They show that very efficient, low-cost, CDMA systems can be obtained with an aggregate throughput of many gigabits per second. Also, for this system, the spreading gain of CDMA is independent of the modulation bandwidth. Hence, the system can accommodate variable bit rates, naturally