To support multimedia services with different discrete bit-rate requirements, families of multilength optical codes, such as the carrier-hopping prime code (CHPC), extended CHPC, and multiwavelength optical orthogonal code, were recently constructed for wavelength-time optical code-division multiple-access (O-CDMA). In this paper, the performance of these multilength optical codes in a multimedia O-CDMA system with a variable-weight operation are analyzed. Our study shows that short-length codes generate stronger interference than long-length codes. This supports services prioritization in O-CDMA. Our study also shows that code weight is a more important factor than code length in determining code performance (i.e., quality of service).

To support multimedia services with different discrete bit-rate requirements, families of multilength optical codes, such as the carrier-hopping prime code (CHPC), extended CHPC, and multiwavelength optical orthogonal code, were recently constructed for wavelength-time optical code-division multiple-access (O-CDMA). In this paper, the performances of these multilength optical codes in a multimedia O-CDMA system with a variable-weight operation are analyzed. Our study shows that short-length codes generate stronger interference than long-length codes. This supports services prioritization in O-CDMA. Our study also shows that code weight is a more important factor than code length in determining code performance.

Puncturing is studied as a physical layer mechanism for efficiently transmitting datastreams containing bits of unequal priority via wavelength-time optical code-division multiple access. Puncturing increases system capacity, while ensuring that important bits are received with low bit-error rate

A new family of two-dimensional (2-D) wavelength-hopping time-spreading codes, which employs wavelength hopping algebraically under prime-sequence permutations on top of time-spreading optical orthogonal codes, is studied and analyzed. Different from other 2-D codes, our new codes allow the number of wavelengths and code length to be chosen independently and, at the same time, the code cardinality is a quadratic function of the number of wavelengths without sacrificing the maximum cross-correlation value (i.e., still at most one). They are particularly suitable for high bit-rate optical code-division multiple-access systems with broadband mode-locked lasers, in which the number of time slots is very limited, and system capacity can only be grown by increasing the number of wavelengths, rather than code length. Finally, a novel wavelength-aware detector for wavelength-hopping time-spreading codes is discussed and shown to provide improved code performance.