ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the threads and trends have been part of the evolution of optical code division multiple access (OCDMA). The literature of OCDMA includes theory, concepts, analyses, devices, simulations, technology demonstrations, testbeds, and even attempts at productization. Synchronous and asynchronous formats of OCDMA were compared to time division multiple access. It was determined in this study that synchronous OCDMA had some immunities to fiber impairments, such as dispersion. Since much of OCDMA is based on on-off-keying (OOK) and unipolar codes, quite a lot of the related research has dealt with discovering or generating codes with good auto- and cross-correlation properties. The survey of OCDMA publications and research shows that the contributions have come from individual researchers, universities, corporations, and consortia. Some of the research has been directed to solve specific problems, and some has been motivated by the challenges of innovation.
