Cross-Correlation Interference Effects in Multiaccess Optical Communications

The effects of the cross correlation between user codes in an opticalcode-division multiple-access communication system are investigated. The system model is a multiaccess satellite repeater in which the uplink and downlink channels are direct-detection, optical-polarization modulation links. The error probability is derived in terms of the cross correlation between the intended and interfering user codes. It is shown that the system error rate can be minimized by using code sequences in which the normalized second moment of the cross correlation between codes is small. The signalto- noise ratio (SNR) on the uplink is shown to be proportional to 1/K while the SNR on the downlink is proportional to 1/K1/2, where K is the number of users which are simultaneously accessing the system.