J Opt (December 2016) 45(4):343–356
DOI 10.1007/s12596-016-0333-6
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Design and performance analysis of 1D, 2D and 3D
prime sequence code family for optical CDMA network
Rajesh Yadav 1 & Gurjit Kaur 1
Received: 7 September 2015 / Accepted: 22 April 2016 / Published online: 18 June 2016
# The Optical Society of India 2016
Abstract In this paper we investigate the family of prime
codes 1D, 2D and 3D code for Optical CDMA communica-
tion system. Optical CDMA network works on the concept of
assigning minimal interfering code sequence to each user that
will intelligently route the traffic within the network. The 1D
and 2D codes are compared with the proposed 3D codes based
on prime sequence algorithm. The mathematically modeling
of the codes is explained in detail. The orthogonality among
codes is evaluated in terms of auto and cross correlation func-
tion on MATLAB. It is seen that the correlation property of the
proposed 3D code is matched closely with the 1D code and
better then the 2D Code. The cardinality of 3D code is better
than the 1D code and almost comparable to the 2D code. The
significance of introducing the dimension is explained in
terms of BER versus number of user for 1D and 2D codes.
Keywords OCDMA . Prime codes . BER . Auto correlation .
Cross correlation
Introduction
Optical transmission has acquired a special place in commu-
nication technology over past 30 years. A fiber acts as a wave-
guide to transmit information from one place to another and
the information carrier is an optical wave. Since an optical
wave can accommodate large amount of information, the
* Rajesh Yadav
raj_opyadav@yahoo.co.in
1
Department of ECE, School of ICT, Gautam Buddha University,
Greater Noida, India
system has a great potential to meet the global telecommuni-
cation challenges.
Optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) takes ad-
vantages of both; extreme wide bandwidth offered by optical
fiber and the flexibility of the CDMA to achieve reliable high
speed connectivity. In optical CDMA transport network, there
is statistically allocation of network capacity such that you can
continue adding channels until the signal to noise ratio be-
comes low enough that you start getting bit errors and the total
data traffic stays below the channel capacity. No guard bands
are used in OCDMA network because the stations simply
transmit when they are ready [1, 2]. In optical CDMA, differ-
ent users whose signals may be overlapped both in time and
frequency share a common communication medium; multiple
access is achieved by assigning unlike minimally interfering
code sequences to different users, which must subsequently be
detected in the presence of multiple access interference from
other users.
In an Optical CDMA system, each bit is divided up into n
time’s periods called chips. An optical signature sequence or
codeword is created, by sending a short optical pulse during
some chip interval but not for others. Each user on the O-
CDMA system has a unique signature sequence. The encoder
of each transmitter represents each B1^ bit by sending the
signature sequence where as binary B0^ bit is represented by
all zero sequence. Since each bit is represented by a pattern of
lit and unlit chips, the bandwidth of the data stream is in-
creased. Optical CDMA is therefore a spread spectrum tech-
nique. The optical CDMA encoded data is then sent to the N x
N star coupler in a local area network or N x N coupler in an
access network and broadcast to all nodes [3–6]. Figure 1
shows the schematic diagram of the OCDMA communication
system [7]. The block diagram consists of optical encoder, star
coupler and optical decoder in optical domain whereas data
source and data recovery circuit can be either in optical or
344 J Opt (December 2016) 45(4):343–356

Fig. 1 Block diagram of an OPTICAL OR OPTICAL OPTICAL OR

OCDMA communication system ELECTRICAL ELECTRICAL
in star architecture OPTICAL DATA
DATA OPTICAL
CDMA RECOVERY
SOURCE CDMA
DECODER #1
#1 ENCODER
#1 #1
NXN
. . OPTICAL .
.
. . STAR . .
. COUPLERS .
.

DATA OPTICAL OPTICAL DATA

SOURCE CDMA CDMA RECOVERY
#N ENCODER DECODER #N
#N #N

OPTICAL

electrical domain. The performance of the data recovery cir-
cuits can be improved by using delay locked loop as used in
wireless communication systems [8]. Wireless communication
system based on spread spectrum signaling are categories into
two – direct sequence spread spectrum and frequency hopping
become a most important technology for 3rd generation was
studied by researcher for improved performance [9, 10].
In this paper a family of codes called prime codes has been
discussed and an analysis is carried out to justify the signifi-
cance of introducing the dimension in optical codes for optical
CDMA communication system. The construction of two di-
mensional and three dimensional codes are mostly based on
the constructions of one dimensional code. Therefore it is
important to discuss the coding theory, mathematical model-
ing and simulation of one dimensional code.
The contributions of the paper are as follows:
& As large variety of codes families available like PC, OOC
and Quadratic Congruence Codes family etc. This paper
emphasis the prime code family for OCDMA communi-
cation systems and data networks. Specifically we try to
highlight the proposed 3D optical prime code.
& We have discussed the mathematical modeling and simu-
lation of the 1D, 2D and 3D prime codes in MATLAB.
& The prime codes are examined for their autocorrelation
and cross correlation property that defines their feasibility
and authenticity.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section II
deals with the optical CDMA techniques which give an in-
sight of the optical codes for OCDMA network. Section III
discusses the prime code family for OCDMA system and
presents the mathematical modeling and simulation results
of 1D, 2D and 3D optical prime codes. Addresses the com-
parisons of the results of above mentioned codes. Section IV
concludes the current research along with the future direc-
tions. The paper ends with the references and bibliography
information.
Prime codes
Optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) takes advan-
tages of both; extreme wide bandwidth offered by optical fiber
and the flexibility of the CDMA to achieve reliable high speed
connectivity. In optical CDMA transport network, there is
statistically allocation of network capacity such that you can
continue adding channels until the signal to noise ratio be-
comes low enough that you are start getting bit errors and
the total data traffic stays below the channel capacity. No
guard bands are used in OCDMA network because the sta-
tions simply transmit when they are ready. In optical CDMA,
different users whose signals may be overlapped both in time
and frequency share a common communication medium; mul-
tiple access is achieved by assigning unlike minimally inter-
fering code sequences to different users, which must subse-
quently be detected in the presence of multiple access inter-
ference from other users
In order to implement efficient OCDMA communication
system, address code words with good orthogonal character-
istic are essential. OCDMA technique allows many users to
simultaneously access the same transmission channel by
assigning different optical codes to different users. The code
set should be chosen such that it has as many code words as
possible with good enough auto- and cross-correlation so that
perfect synchronization can be achieve and the multiple access
interference (MAI) from other codes can be suppressed effec-
tively while decoding the signals. Prime codes for OCDMA
system consist sequence of ‘1’s and ‘0’ s in which the position
of ‘1’ in the sequence is governed by certain rule called Galois
field. The possible several prime code variants for OCDMA
system proposed in many literatures are shown in Fig. 2
[11–14].
The prime codes are still preferable due to easy and simple
implementation of optical encoder/decoder tuneability. Also
the prime codes enjoy the equal length subsequences in each
codeword. Thus the cost of encoding and decoding process
will be reduced. In order to reduce the cost and power of
J Opt (December 2016) 45(4):343–356 345

Fig. 2 Optical prime code Prime Codes for

hierarchy for OCDMA networks OCDMA System

One Two Three

Dimensional Dimensional Dimensional

Simple Extended Modified Wavelength/ Time/Space Wavelength/ Polarization /

Prime Prime Prime Time Prime Prime Time/Space Wavelength/
Codes Codes Codes Codes Codes Codes Time Codes

OCDMA networks, low weight codes which have symmetri- Where x and y are the elements over the Galois field GF
cally distributed pulses in each codeword should be (P) = {0, 1......, P - 1}. Table 1 shows the prime sequence Sx
constructed. constructed for P = 5.
Second, each prime sequence Sx is mapped into the binary
sequence according to the following rule:
Mathematical modelling of prime codes 
1 if z ¼ sx;y þ y:P; f or y ¼ f0; 1; 2; …; P−1g
cx;z ¼ ð3Þ
Basic prime codes (1D) 0 elsewere

A binary prime code sequence of length p2 can be con-

The construction of prime code was based on the theory of
linear congruence codes. The minimum hamming distance of
the prime code family is P −1. First consider a prime number p
and then using a congruence operation over Galois Field GF
(P) ≡ {0, 1, 2,….., P −1}produce a group of sequences Sx (y),
0 ≤ x ≥ P −1, 0 ≤ y ≥ P −1. Then according to a certain algo-
rithm, map this group of sequences into a group of binary
sequences and Sx (y) corresponds to the 1’s position of yth
chip (called the slot) of xth codeword. When a different con-
gruence operation is applied, a different congruence code can
be obtained [15, 16]. The congruence operations in common
use are as follows:
Linear congruence operator
S x ðy; a; bÞ ¼ fx:ða:y þ bÞgmodðPÞ
Where a and b are constants. When a = 1 and b = 0, it can
generate the prime sequences. x, y, a, b ∊ GF(P) = {0, 1, - - - - -,
P - 1} [9].
The prime Code (PC) is a typical linear congruence code.
The construction of a PC is carried out in two steps as follows.
First, consider P as a prime number and based on Galois field
GF (P), create a prime sequence:


S x ¼ sx;0 ; sx;1 ; ……:; sx; y ::…; sx; ðP−1Þ x ¼ 0; 1; ……:; P−1 ð1Þ
Thus, P distinct prime sequence Sx will be derived. Where
the element in this prime sequence are given by
sx; y ¼ fx; ygðmod PÞ
structed as follows:


C x;z ¼ cx;0 ; cx;1 ; …cx;z ; …::cx;N −1 ; ð4Þ
Where x ¼ 0; 1; … …; P−1; N ¼ P2
It can be seen that the codeset with code length P2 and
code weight P can have P distinct prime sequences. Thus
we can conclude the number of available code in the code
set is again equal to the generating prime number ‘P’,
while the number of active users for a given Bit Error
Rate (BER) depends upon the correlation properties of
these codes. The cardinality of prime code is |C| = P.
Prime Code is represented by the parameters (N, w, λa,
λc), where N is the temporal length of the code (for PC it
is P2), w is the code weight or the number of one’s in the
code (for prime code w = P), λa and λc are the auto and
cross correlation value respectively. Table 2 shows the
code set of 1D original prime code over GF (5) and of
the length 25 and weight 5 [16].
Table 1 Prime sequence
Sx over GF(5) y Prime sequence Sx,y 0 1 2 3 4
x
0 S0 0 0 0 0 0
1 S1 0 1 2 3 4
2 S2 0 2 4 1 3
3 S3 0 3 1 4 2
4 S4 0 4 3 2 1
ð2Þ
346 J Opt (December 2016) 45(4):343–356

Table 2 Prime code sequence Cx over GF(P) interfering codeword’s. The probability of error can be calcu-
Prime sequence Sx Prime code sequence Cx 0 1 2 3 4 lated with respect to the number of users on a system [16],
with the use of the signal to noise ratio. From the autocorre-
S0 = (00000) 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000 lation and cross correlation analysis the signal to noise ratio
S1 = (01234) 10000 01000 00100 00010 00001 for these types of sequences is approximated by [15]:
S2 = (02413) 10000 00100 00001 01000 00010
P2
S3 = (03142) 10000 00010 00100 00001 01000 SN R≅ ð6Þ
S4 = (04321) 10000 00001 00010 00100 01000 0:29 ðK−1Þ

Here K is the number of users transmitting simultaneously

The correlation property for any pair of distinct prime code and P is representing the number of binary 1’s per code se-
sequence Ci and Cj with discrete data stream format are quence. It is evident from the above equation that for a given
 code length for a code sequence, the signal to noise ratio
P i ¼ j; Auto − correlation decreases as the number of simultaneous users K increases.
C i :C j ¼ ð5Þ
≤ 2 i ≠ j; Cross − correlation Hence it can be said that, larger the number of users in the
network, at a given time, the poorer the system performance.
Figure 3 shows the two codeword’s C3 and C6 of the code This degradation in the SNR leads to an increase in the prob-
set of 1D original prime code over GF (5) and of the length 25 ability of error. The probability of error Pe/G assuming
and weight 5, it also show the autocorrelation function for Gaussian distribution interference is given by the equation:
optical code C3 and Cross correlation function of C3 and C6 !
 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 
optical codes, for the transmission of following data bit stream − SN R −P
110111001 in on-off keying modulation. It is clear from the Pe=G ¼ Q ¼ Q pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2 1:16ðK−1Þ
figure that the autocorrelation peaks are equal to 5 and the Z x
1 −y2
cross correlation function is at most 2. QðxÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffi e dy
2π −∞ 2
ð7Þ

Performance Analysis Q(x) is the cumulative distribution function. The above

approximation is valid for larger values of K, whereby the
The performance of the prime codes is carried out in terms of central limit theorem the interference component approaches
probability of error due to the mutual interference created by a Gaussian distribution. Figure 4 plots the error probability of

Fig. 3 (a) and (b) shows the two codeword’s C2 and C4 of the code set of 1D original prime code over GF (5) respectively, (c) Auto Correlation function
for optical code C2 and (d) Cross correlation function of C2 and C4 optical codes, for the transmission of following data bit stream 110111001
J Opt (December 2016) 45(4):343–356
Fig. 4 Probability of error of the
prime codes over GF (P) for
N = P2 and w = P
the prime codes over GF(P) against the number of simulta-
neous users K for different values of P. It is apparent from the
figure, that the error probabilities improves as P increases
because of higher code weight (w = P) and longer length
(N = P2), resulting better correlation properties. The error
probabilities get worse as K increases due to stronger mutual
interference.
Extended prime codes (1D)
In extended prime codes (EPC), the objective is to re-
duce the maximum cross correlation value equal to one.
As in the basic prime code it is two. In order to achieve
above goal, each sub-block in the code sequence of the
basic prime code is now padded with P-1 trailing ‘0’.
Its construction begins with the prime sequence Sx for a
prime number ‘P’ over GF (P).
Then, each prime sequence Sx is mapped into the binary
sequence (0, 1) according to the following rule:
Table 3 Extended prime codes
Cx over GF(5) Prime
Seq. Sx, y
S0 = (00000)
S1 = (01234)
S2 = (02461)
S3 = (03625)
S4 = (04152)
347

1 if z ¼ sx;y þ y:ð2P−1Þ; f or y ¼ f0; 1; 2; …; P−1g
cx;z ¼
0 otherwise
ð8Þ
A binary prime code sequence of length P (2P - 1) can be
constructed as follows:


C x;z ¼ cx;0 ; cx;1 ; …cx;z ; …::cx;N −1 ; ð9Þ
Where x ¼ 0; 1; … …:; P−1; N ¼ P ð2P−1Þ
Table 3 present the extended prime code over
GF(P) = 5. It can be seen that the code set with code
length P(2P −1) and code weight P can have P distinct
prime sequences [15]. Thus we can say that the number
of available code in the code set is again equal to the
generating prime number ‘P’, while the cross-correlation
value is equal to 1, thus minimizing the amount of
mutual interference. The cardinality of prime code is
|C| = P. Extended Prime Code is represented by the pa-
rameters (N, w, λa, λc), where the temporal length (N)
Extended prime code Cx
100000000 100000000 100000000 100000000 100000000
100000000 010000000 001000000 000100000 000010000
100000000 001000000 000010000 000000100 010000000
100000000 000100000 000000100 001000000 000001000
100000000 000010000 010000000 000001000 001000000
348 J Opt (December 2016) 45(4):343–356

Fig. 5 (a) and (b) shows the two

codeword’s C2 and C4 of the code
set of extended prime code over
GF (5) respectively, (c) Auto
Correlation function for optical
code C2 and (d) Cross correlation
function of C2 and C4 optical
codes, for the transmission of
following data bit stream
110111001

of the code is P(2P - 1)), the code weight (w)or the complex transmission schedules produce higher throughput
number of one’s in the code is P, λa and λc are the than asynchronous access in which network access is ran-
auto and cross correlation value respectively. dom and collisions arise. These Synchronous code se-
The correlation property for any pair of extended prime quences are termed as modified prime codes (MPC).
code sequence Ci and Cj are as follows: Due to code synchronism, synchronous modified prime
 codes have larger code cardinality and better code perfor-
P i ¼ j ; Auto − correlation
C i :C j ¼ ð10Þ mance then asynchronous codes. They have significantly
≤ 1 i ≠ j; Cross − correlation increased the number of possible subscriber and simulta-
neous users in OCDMA network. MPC is obtained by
Figure 5 shows the two codeword’s C3 and C6 of the
simply time shifting the binary code sequence P times in
code set of 1D extended prime code over GF (5) and of
time of the original prime code. In this way, P times new
the length 25 and weight 5, it also show the autocorrela-
code sequences could be generated, thus resulting in in-
tion function for optical code C3 and Cross correlation
creased cardinality (|C| = P2) of synchronous modified
function of C3 and C6 optical codes, for the transmission
prime codes [17, 18]. Figure 6 shows the modified prime
of following data bit stream 110111001 in on-off keying
codes has code sequences P times more than the basic
modulation. It is clear from the figure that the autocorre-
prime code over the same GF(P).
lation peaks are equal to 5 and the cross correlation func-
The generation of modified prime code begins with the
tion between any two distinct code sequences of the ex-
prime number P over the GF(P). A synchronized time shifted
tended prime code over a GF (5) is at most one, resulting
prime sequence Sx,k = (sx,k,0, sx,k,1,……., sx,k, y,…, sx,k,(p-1)) is
in a better performance than the basic prime codes.
generated.
However, the number of available code word is not en-
Where the element in this modified prime sequence is giv-
hanced for a given increase in code length [16].
en by

Modified prime codes (1D) sx;k; y ¼ ðx⊗yÞ⊗k ðmodPÞ

Prime code and extended prime code for OCDMA net-
works are asynchronous in nature, so there is no need of
scheduling and synchronization. The asynchronous systems
have randomness in network access and allow limited
number of subscribers. Synchronous accessing with
Where x, y and k all in Galois field GF (P) = {0, 1...... P - 1},
B⊗^ denotes a modulo p multiplication and B⊕^ denotes a
modulo P addition.
Then, each prime sequence Sx,k is mapped into the binary
code sequence (0,1) according to the following rule:
J Opt (December 2016) 45(4):343–356 349

format are:
8 9
< P i ¼ j; Auto−correlation =
C i :C j ¼ ≤ P i ≠ j; i and j belongs to same group; Cross − correlation
: ;
≤2 i ≠ j; i and j belongs to differ group; Cross − correlation
ð13Þ

It can be seen from above correlation function that the

peak auto correlation is P which happens when i = j.
where the cross correlation value is ‘P’ if i ≠ j, i and j
belongs to same group and it is ‘2’ if i ≠ j, i and j belongs
to differ group. Figure 7 shows the two codeword’s C8
and C17 of the code set of 1D synchronized modified
prime codes over GF (5) and of the length 25 and weight
5, it also show the autocorrelation function for optical
code C8 and Cross correlation function of C8 and C17
optical codes, for the transmission of following data bit
Fig. 6 Comparison of synchronous and asynchronous prime code based
on number of code sequence versus prime number stream 110111001. It is clear from the figure that the
autocorrelation peaks are equal to 5 and the cross correla-
tion function between any two distinct code sequences of
 the synchronized modified prime codes over a GF (5) is at
1 if z ¼ sx;k;y þ y:P; f or y ¼ f0; 1; 2; …; P−1g
cx;k;z ¼
0 otherwise
ð11Þ
Table 4 Modified prime codes over GF(5)
A binary prime code sequence of length (N = P2) can be
x k Prime sequence Sx,k Modified prime code Cx,k
constructed as follows: y→0 1 2 3 4


C x;k ¼ cx;0 ; cx;1 ; …cx;z ; …::cx;N −1 ; Where x ¼ 0; 1; … …:; P−1; 0 0 S0,0 = (00000) C0,0 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000
ð12Þ 1 S0,1 = (11111) C0,1 01000 01000 01000 01000 01000
2 S0,2 = (22222) C0,2 00100 00100 00100 00100 00100
Therefore the cardinality of synchronous modified 3 S0,3 = (33333) C0,3 00010 00010 00010 00010 00010
prime code is |C| = P2. These P2 distinct code sequences 4 S0,4 = (44444) C0,4 00001 00001 00001 00001 00001
can be divided into P groups given by x∊ [0, P-1] and each 1 0 S1,0 = (01234) C1,0 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000
group has P code sequence given by k∊ [0, P-1]. First 1 S1,1 = (12340) C1,1 01000 01000 00100 00010 10000
prime code sequence in every group is generated according 2 S1,2 = (23401) C1,2 00100 00010 00001 10000 01000
to the original prime code, thus acting as a seed to generate 3 S1,3 = (34012) C1,3 00010 00001 10000 01000 00100
other prime code sequences in this group. So we can con- 4 S1,4 = (40123) C1,4 00001 10000 01000 00010 00010
clude that the synchronous modified prime codes have P 2 0 S2,0 = (02413) C2,0 10000 00100 00001 01000 00010
time’s larger cardinality than the asynchronous prime 1 S2,0 = (13024) C2,1 01000 00010 10000 00100 00001
codes over the same GF(P). The synchronous modified 2 S2,1 = (24130) C2,2 00100 00001 01000 00010 10000
prime code is given by the parameters (N, w, λa, λc), where 3 S2,2 = (30241) C2,3 00010 10000 00100 00001 01000
temporal length ‘N’ of the code is P2, the code weight ‘w’ 4 S2,3 = (41302) C2,4 00001 01000 00010 10000 00100
of the code is P, λa and λc are the auto and cross correlation 3 0 S3,4 = (03142) C3,0 10000 00010 01000 00001 00100
function respectively. The autocorrelation peak of PC is 1 S3,0 = (14203) C3,1 01000 00001 00100 10000 00010
obviously P, while the cross-correlation is always less than 2 S3,0 = (20314) C3,2 00100 10000 00010 01000 00001
two. In synchronous code in-phase cross-correlation func- 3 S3,1 = (31420) C3,3 00010 01000 00001 00100 10000
tions are considered instead of periodic ones. Table 4 pres- 4 S3,2 = (42031) C3,4 00001 00100 10000 00010 01000
ent one example of synchronous modified prime code over 4 0 S4,3 = (04321) C4,0 10000 00001 00010 00100 01000
GF (5). We can see there are 5 groups each having 5 code 1 S4,4 = (10432) C4,1 01000 01000 01000 00010 00100
sequence thus having in total 25 codeword’s of length 25 2 S4,0 = (21034) C4,2 00100 01000 10000 00010 00001
and weight 5 [16]. 3 S4,0 = (32104) C4,3 00010 00100 01000 10000 00001
The correlation property for any pair of synchronous mod- 4 S4,1 = (43210) C4,4 00001 00010 00100 01000 10000
ified prime code sequence Ci and Cj with discrete data stream
350 J Opt (December 2016) 45(4):343–356

Fig. 7 (a) and (b) shows the two

codeword’s C8 and C17 of the
code set of 1D synchronized
modified prime codes over GF (5)
respectively, (c) Auto Correlation
function for optical code C8 and
(d) Cross correlation function of
C8 and C17 optical codes, for the
transmission of following data bit
stream 110111001

most two. In the modified versions of prime codes limita- probability of error:
tions of original prime codes has been overcome to certain 8 9
< ( 0 ) k ≤P =
extent by increasing the number of available code word
without increase in code length. Pb ¼ Q
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
P
 k ≥P ; ð14Þ
:
K−1

Performance analysis Here K is the number of users, P is representing the prime

number and Q is the cumulative distribution function. It is
Probability of error is calculated with respect to the evident from the Fig. 8 that for a given code length for a code
number of users on a system [16]. In modified prime sequence, the probability of error decreases as the number of
codes which are considered synchronous will produce a simultaneous users K increases.

Fig. 8 Probability of error of the

modified prime codes over GF (P)
for N = P2 and w = P
J Opt (December 2016) 45(4):343–356
So in synchronous transmission of the modified prime code
each codeword has equal length code sequence and fixed code
weight. There is significant improvement in cardinality and
have good correlation property. Since in synchronous modi-
fied prime code there is complex transmission schedules the
security need to be improved for a given number of simulta-
neous users.
So in synchronized modified prime codes (SMPC) a new
sets of code sequences based on time shifting has been
introduced that has increased number of subscribers and si-
multaneous users also has good auto-correlation and cross-
correlation property. There are some other codes that has been
introduced recently in the family of modified prime code like
new modified prime codes (n-MPC), padded modified prime
codes (PMPC), group padded modified prime codes
(GPMPC) and transposed modified prime codes (T-MPC).
These codes take advantage of low weight, improved cardi-
nality and enhanced correlation property. The conclusion we
can draw from the above discussion is that codes cardinality is
to be maximized in such a way that the code length cannot be
increased indefinitely to optimize their correlation function.
Practical implementations must be considered in the code de-
sign process because there is a tradeoff between the network
performance and the throughput due to code length [19, 20].
2D prime code
To design an optical CDMA communication system we have
to deal with the designing of spreading codes having good
correlation properties for a given number of subscribers and
simultaneous users supported. In 1D optical code the number
of users that can communicate with each other simultaneously
is small and the bit error rate of the system increases as the
number of subscriber in a network is increased. This is be-
cause the number of subscribers is proportional to the length
of spreading codes. Thus the length of optical codes should be
large enough to increase the number of simultaneous users. A
effective way is to use 2D optical code, in which the optical
pulses within each code word are being sent at different wave-
lengths or channels resulting in either wavelength hopping
and time spreading 2D optical code or space and time 2D
optical code. Thus we try to introduce either wavelength or
space as another dimension in order to improve the cardinality
and performance of the system. The most preferable 2D opti-
cal code is wavelength hopping/time spreading code. In com-
parison to 1D OCDMA system, 2D OCDMA system not only
support more possible subscribers, simultaneously communi-
cating users and improved system performance but also sim-
plify the network control and management, reducing process-
ing time and save cost of hardware implementation. Here we
discuss wavelength hopping and time spreading 2D optical
code based on prime code algorithm for optical CDMA sys-
tem. Although the use of optical codes increases system
351
complexity, this approach adds security and coding flexibility.
The 2D prime code is potentially used in the optical TDMA
and Optical CDMA multirate, multimedia network and cod-
ing based passive optical network.
A 2D wavelength hopping/time spreading optical code is
given by the parameter (M × N, W, λa, λc), where L × M is a
binary {0, 1} matrices [16]. In general M × N matrix repre-
sents a codeword which consists of M rows and N columns,
while M corresponds to the number of available wavelength
and N denotes the number of time slots or code length. In a
network each subscriber is assigned a matrix as its own ad-
dress code sequence. The code length N depends on the data
bit period T and each bit period is subdivided into a small unit
called chip or time slot to incorporate the binary ones and
zeros of code sequence [16].
To construct the 2D PC/PC codes first consider the prime
number then obtain the prime sequence and prime codeword
as follows.


S x ¼ sx;0 ; sx;1 ; ……:; sx; y ; …; sx;ðP−1Þ
x ¼ 0; 1…; P−1 and y ¼ 0; 1……:; P−1
Where the element in this prime sequence is given by
sx; y ¼ fx; ygðmod PÞ
Sx, ywhere x and y are the elements over the Galois field
GF (P) = {0, 1......, P - 1}. Then, each prime sequence Sx is
mapped into the binary sequence according to the follow-
ing rule:

1 if z ¼ sx;y þ y:P; f or y ¼ f0; 1; 2; …; P−1g
cx;z ¼
0 elsewere
ð15Þ
A binary prime code sequence of length P2 can be con-
structed as follows:


C x;z ¼ cx;0 ; cx;1 ; …cx;z ; …::cx;N −1 ; ð16Þ
Where x ¼ 0; 1; … …; P−1; N ¼ P2
Let a prime number P = 5 then corresponding prime
sequence Sx,y and basic prime code obtained is shown in
Table 5. Here the Sx,y for x = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and y = 0, 1, 2, 3,
4 is employed as time spreading. Whereas Hx,y be another
Table 5 The prime sequence and prime code over GF(P)
Prime sequence Sx,y for p = 5 Prime codes Cx
S0 0 0 0 0 0 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000
S1 0 1 2 3 4 H1 01000 01000 01000 01000 01000
S2 0 2 4 1 3 H2 00100 00100 00100 00100 00100
S3 0 3 1 4 2 H3 00010 00010 00010 00010 00010
S4 0 4 3 2 1 H4 00001 00001 00001 00001 00001
352
parameter employed to determine the wavelength hopping.
For x = 0, the wavelength hopping pattern is of no significance
so there is no H0. For the given prime codes over GF(5), the
binary B1^ in each codeword is represented by a different
wavelength and the selection of particular wavelength is
governed by the factor H x. Thus for any two different
codeword’s either they have diverse wavelength hopping or
have diverse time spreading as shown in Table 6. The 2D
PC/PC code has code length N = P2. The number of available
wavelength and the code weight are M = P and w = P
respectively.
Figure 9 Present the visualization of wavelength hop-
ping and time spreading 2D PC/PC codeword over
GF(5), having weight 5 with 5 wavelength and 25 time
slots. Each black box depicts the chip position and trans-
mitting wavelength of an optical pulse in the codeword. A
matrix form representation of wavelength hopping and
time spreading 2D PC/PC codeword.
From the Table 6 it is clear that any two codeword will have
either different wavelength hopping or possess different time
spreading. For example, the codeword’s S0H3 and S0H4 have
the same time spreading pattern but they possess different
wavelength hopping pattern. Whereas, the codeword’s S0H3
and S1H3 will have the same wavelength hopping pattern but
their time spreading pattern are different. That’s why
Table 6 The possible number of wavelength hopping and time
spreading 2D PC/PC codeword over GF(P)
Sx,y Hx,y Sx. Hx 2D PC/PC Codes Cx,k
01234
0 1 S0H1 W00000 W10000 W20000 W30000 W40000
2 S0H2 W00000 W20000 W40000 W10000 W30000
3 S0H3 W00000 W30000 W10000 W40000 W20000
4 S0H4 W00000 W10000 W20000 W30000 W10000
1 1 S1H1 W00000 0 W1000 00 W200 000 W30 0000 W4
2 S1H2 W00000 0 W2000 00 W400 000 W10 0000 W3
3 S1H3 W00000 0 W3000 00 W100 000 W40 0000 W2
4 S1H4 W00000 0 W1000 00 W200 000 W30 0000 W1
2 1 S2H1 W00000 00 W100 0000 W2 0 W3000 000 W40
2 S2H2 W00000 00 W200 0000 W4 0 W1000 0 W3000
3 S2H3 W00000 00 W300 0000 W1 0 W4000 0 W2000
4 S2H4 W00000 00 W100 0000 W2 0 W3000 0 W1000
3 1 S3H1 W00000 W10000 W20000 W30000 W40000
2 S3H2 W00000 W20000 W40000 W10000 W30000
3 S3H3 W00000 W30000 W10000 W40000 W20000
4 S3H4 W00000 W10000 W20000 W30000 W10000
4 1 S4H1 W00000 0000 W1 000 W20 00 W300 0 W4000
2 S4H2 W00000 0000 W2 000 W40 00 W100 0 W3000
3 S4H3 W00000 0000 W3 000 W10 00 W400 0 W2000
4 S4H4 W00000 0000 W1 000 W20 00 W300 0 W1000
J Opt (December 2016) 45(4):343–356
wavelength hopping and time spreading 2D PC/PC codes
have good correlation property.
The correlation properties for any pair of wavelength hop-
ping and time spreading 2D PC/PC code sequence Ci and Cj
with discrete data stream format are as:
8 9
< P i ¼ j; Auto−correlation =
C i :C j ¼ ≤ P i ≠ j; i and j belongs to same group; Cross − correlation
: ;
≤1 i ≠ j; i and j belongs to differ group; Cross − correlation
ð17Þ
It can be seen from above correlation function that the
peak auto correlation is P which happens when i = j. where
the cross correlation value is ‘P’ if i ≠ j, i and j belongs to
same group and it is ‘1’ if i ≠ j, i and j belongs to differ
group. Figure 10 shows the three codeword’s C2, C4 and
C11 of the code set of wavelength hopping and time spread-
ing 2D PC/PC over GF(5) of the length 25 and weight 5, it
also show the autocorrelation function for optical code C2,
in phase cross correlation function of C2 and C4 optical
codes and out of phase cross correlation function of C4
and C11 optical codes, for the transmission of following
data bit stream 110111001. It is clear from the figure that
the autocorrelation peaks are equal to 5. Whereas, in phase
cross correlation function between any two distinct code
sequences of the same group and the out of phase cross
correlation function between any two distinct code se-
quences of the different groups of the wavelength hopping
and time spreading 2D PC/PC over GF(5) is at most ‘5’
and ‘1’ respectively.
In the design stage of OCDMA network it is necessary to
evaluate and analyze the code properties like correlation func-
tion, bit error rate, cardinality and bandwidth efficiency are
needed to be taken into account for code performance and
scalability. We have already discussed the correlation property
and code set cardinality of the 1D and 2D optical spreading
codes. The bit error rate (BER) is the average possibility of
error occurrence among different sequence codes. The BER of
code set increases when the number of simultaneous sub-
scribers grows.
For sustainable optical communications system perfor-
mance, the BER value acceptable value is 10−9. The BER of
1D spreading codes can be determined on the basis of possi-
bility of binary data occurrence, the threshold decoding range
and the hits possibility between ones in the code sequences. It
is expressed as:
  
1 X W =2 x W=2 2 f  x S−1
BER1D ¼ ð −1 Þ 1− ð18Þ
2 x¼0 x W
Where W is the code weight depending on the number of
ones, S is the total number of simultaneous subscribers, and
f = W2/4 L is the decoding distance between the first and last
J Opt (December 2016) 45(4):343–356 353

a
W4
Wavelength

W3
W2
W1
W0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Time

b
W4
W3
W2
W1
W0
t0 t1 t2 t3 t 4
Fig. 9 (a) Visualization of wavelength hopping and time spreading 2D PC/PC codeword over GF(5), (b) A matrix representation of 2D WH/TS code

successive ones in the sequence and L denotes the code length wavelength. It is expressed as:
maintained under the correlation constraint. However the value  
of ‘f’ varies for different spreading codes families depending on 1 X S=2 S−1 x S−1−x
BER2D ¼ f f ð19Þ
the maximum decoding slot distance [15]. 2 x¼Th x
The BER of 2D optical spreading codes can be calculated
on the basis of the possibility of threshold decoding and the Where S is the total number of simultaneous subscribers, this
product of hits possibility f by non hits possibility 1-f [15]. the decoding threshold and f is the sum of the hit function to
The hits possibility corresponds to the possibility of different different groups depending on the code weight W, code length N,
code sequences occurring at the same time slot and cardinality C and the hopping factor ‘Ph’. To identify the system

Fig. 10 Wavelength hopping and

time spreading 2D PC/PC
codeword over GF(5), Auto
correlation function of C2,
In-phase Cross-correlation
function of C2 and C4 and out of
phase Cross-correlation function
of C2 and C11 for the transmission
of information bit stream
110111001
354 J Opt (December 2016) 45(4):343–356

Comparision of 1D and 2D Optical CDMA Spreading Codes

codes for P = 7. It can be observed that the numbers of user are
0
10
considerably higher for 2D prime codes then 1D prime code for a
-2
10
given BER. Thus we can conclude that adding a dimension can
significantly improves the cardinality for a sustainable BER con-
-4
10 straint of 10−9 at the same time also improves the security and
1D - RED enhance coding flexibility Figs. 10 and 11.
-6 P=7
10 w =8
L = 49
BER

-8
10 2D - BLUE 3D optical CDMA codes
P=7
w =8
-10 Ns = 49
10
The 3D space/wavelength/time code based on prime sequence
-12
10
algorithm is proposed. Space/Wavelength/Time 3-D code
families are represented as (S*W*T, w, λa, λc) where S, W
-14
10 and T represent the number of spatial channel, wavelength and
time domain used respectively. The ‘w’ signifies the weight of
-16
10
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 the code (the number of one’s in each code). The λa and λc is
Number of User the auto and cross correlation of the code respectively [21].
Fig. 11 Comparison of 1D and 2D optical spreading prime codes in For the construction of 3D optical code the idea comes from
terms of BER and cardinality for prime number p = 7 the multicarrier codes [22]. First consider prime number P over
a GF(P). For a prime number p construct a prime sequence.
performance with the increasing number of subscribers the BER Every codeword of the 3D prime code is represented in the
should be discussed with the cardinality. Figure 11 clearly depicts form of a matrix. A matrix is constructed by setting each ele-
the curve between the BER and cardinality for 1D and 2D optical ment according to the rule Sx,y = Wx.j⊕z.y.i, x.i⊕y.j is given as:

2 3
W 0; 0 W x⊕0; 0⊕y II III W xð p−1Þ⊕0; 0⊕yð p−1Þ
6 W 0⊕z:y; x⊕0 W x⊕z:y;x⊕y II III W xð p−1Þ⊕z:y; x⊕yð p−1Þ 7
6 7
6 I I I 7
6 7
6 ⋮ ⋮ ⋮ 7
S x;y ¼6
6 W 0⊕z:y:i; x:i⊕0 W x⊕z:y:i; x:i⊕y II III W xðp−1Þ⊕z:y:i; x:i⊕yðp−1Þ
7
7 ð20Þ
6 7
6 I I I 7
6 I I I 7
4 ⋮ ⋮ ⋮ 5
W 0⊕z:yðp−1Þ; x:ðp−1Þ⊕0 W x⊕z:yðp−1Þ; x:ðp−1Þ⊕y II III W xðp−1Þ⊕z:yðp−1Þ; xðp−1Þ⊕yðp−1Þ

Each element Wx.j⊕z.y.i, x.i⊕y.j represents one transmitting
wavelength, out of P2 distinct wavelength in the ith wavelength
group and jth time slot location in the Sx,y. where i and
j = [0, 1, ……, P-1], (x, y) ≠ (0, 0), z = {0, 1, …… P-1}/{A}
and ⊕ denotes a modulo p addition. {A} is a set of the number
that contains all integers calculated with 1/r2 (mod P) for
r = {1, 2… P-1}/2. Then using this formula legitimate value
of z that can be used to obtain Sx, y for various prime numbers
can be calculated. For example for P = 3 we have z = 2.
For prime number P = 3, the 3D prime code cardinality
given by |C| = P2 – 1 will be 8. The corresponding code ma-
trices Sx,y, where x and y are both in GF(3) and (x, y) ≠ (0, 0)
will not exist. The following matrix will be as:
2 3
W 0;0 W 0;1 W 0;2
S x; y ¼ 4 W 1;0 W 1;1 W 1;2 5 ð21Þ
W 2;0 W 2;1 W 2;2
This matrix represents a codeword and each element is trans-
mitted using single pulse per plane scheme. Using P = 3 we have
z = 2, then for the codeword S2, 0 where x = 2 and y = 0 the ele-
ments are calculated according to the rule Sx, y = Wx.j⊕z.y.i, x.i⊕y.j.
In Sx,y code matrix, each row represents one disjointed
wavelength and there are in total p distinct wavelengths per
row. The wavelength groups are indexed by i = {0, 1….., P-1},
the number of wavelength groups i can be reduced from P
without degrading the periodic cross correlation function.
Thus we can construct P2-1 prime codeword’s of length P4,
weight P2 and having a iP2 distinct wavelengths where i ≤ P.
These iP2 different wavelengths can be partitioned into i
groups with P2 distinct wavelengths per group. Each time slot
carries i pulses of i diverse wavelengths and one wavelength
per group is used. The optical codeword’s can then be trans-
mitted over i distinct channels having P2 diverse wavelength
and j’s time slots thus acting as a 3D code. In this way the P2
distinct wavelengths in every group can be reused in all i spa-
tial channels, instead of requiring iP2 distinct wavelengths.
The autocorrelation and cross-correlation of Space/wave-
length/time spread 3D optical code is considered. The
J Opt (December 2016) 45(4):343–356 355

Fig. 12 (a) and (b) shows the

two codeword’s S2, 0 and S1,2 of
the code set of 3D optical code
over GF (3) respectively, (c) Auto
Correlation function for optical
code S2, 0 and (d) Cross
correlation function of S2, 0 and
S1,2 optical codes, for the
transmission of following data bit
stream 110111001

correlation property for any pair of prime code sequence Ci
and Cj with discrete data stream format are:
 the autocorrelation peak and minimize the cross correlation
P i ¼ j ; Auto − correlation
C i :C j ¼ ð22Þ
≤2 i ≠ j; Cross − correlation
It can be seen from above correlation function that the peak
auto correlation is P which happens when i = j also, the cross
correlation value is ‘2’ occurs at each synchronized time T.
Figure 12 shows the two codeword’s S2, 0 and S1,2 of the
code set of space/wavelength/time spread 3D code over GF
(3) of length 81 and weight 9, it also illustrate the auto corre-
lation property of 3D code sequence S2, 0 and the maximum
peak value equals 3 at each synchronized time T when the
sequence follow the data stream 110111001.
Similarly, the cross correlation property of 3D code se-
quence S2, 0 and S1,2 is equal to 2 at each synchronized time
T for the same data stream 110111001. As for efficient com-
munication using OCDMA system it is necessary to maximize
function in order to optimize the discrimination between the
correct signal and interference. The out of phase auto correla-
tion constraint will be zero as the pulses per plane are not
greater than that of available wavelength. It is observed from
the figure that the auto correlation and cross correlation of the
3D code has been P and 2 respectively.
Table 7 present the comparison of 1D, 2D and 3D optical
prime codewords over GF(3). The result shows that the 3D
codes have good cardinality of code in comparison to 1D and
2D codes but have significant code lengths. As the code length
plays a significant role in raising the system performance in
terms of correlation property, multiple access interference and
bit error rate. The introduction of the dimension in 3D code

Table 7 The comparison of optical prime codes over GF(3)

Parameters codes Code length N Code weight w Cardinality |C| Auto correlation λa Cross correlation λc

Prime code (P = 3) 9 3 3 P 2
Extended Prime Code (P = 3) 15 3 3 p 1
Modified Prime Code (P = 3) 9 3 9 P 
p m ≠ n; m and n share same group
2m ≠ n; m and n share different group
2D Prime Code PC/PC (P = 3) 9 3 6 P 
p m ≠ n; m and n share same group
1 m ≠ n; m and n share different group
3D Prime Code (P = 3) 3 9 8 P 2
356
has improved the performance in terms of security and Quality
of Services etc. The limiting factor is its implementation and it
needs to control many parameters of fiber and devices.
The orthogonality of the codes is examined on the basis of
correlation property calculated on the MATLAB. It is evident
from the table that the 3D code auto correlation and cross
correlation is comparable to the 1D code however the number
of codewords generated for the given P is better.
The cross correlation of 3D code in comparison to the 2D
code are good. In 2D code the cross correlation value is P
when the codes belong to the same group and 1 as the codes
are from different groups. Whereas in the 3D code, the cross
correlation among all the possible codes for a given value of P
should remain same that is 2. So we can say that the correla-
tion property of the 3D codes are better and support sufficient
cardinality.
Conclusion
We presented the detailed methodology on the design of prime
sequence algorithm based 1D, 2D and 3D code for optical
CDMA communication system. Today communication sys-
tems are facing major challenges from the security point of
view. It is observed that the introduction of dimension in the
encoding scheme will improve the system performance in
terms of cardinality, orthogonality and security. The perfor-
mance result of the proposed 3D code for OCDMA network
will have sufficient code set with good orthogonality and se-
curity as compare to other orthogonal codes (1D and 2D
code). However the complexity of implementing the system
hardware has been increased.
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