Holographic CDMA

A new technique for all-optical code division multiple access (CDMA) based on optical holography is described. In this technique the energy of an incoming information light signal is spread over a larger spatial domain by a two-dimensional spatial encoder which consists of patterns of (0, 1) or (1, -1). Subsequent decoding, which is obtained by a holographic filter, spatially despreads the energy of information light signal and brings it to a bright focused light spot. Experimental results obtained to demonstrate the encoding, decoding, and multiaccess capability of the proposed holographic CDMA technique are discussed and compared to other all-optical CDMA techniques. The processing gain for a holographic CDMA can be potentially as high as 10/sup 6/-10/sup 8/, which suggests that this technique can in principle support hundreds of thousands to a few millions of users.>