Abstract
Multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) combines some of the desirable features of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) and CDMA in that it offers multi-user capabilities at a reduced channel rate. The authors report the analysis of a MC-CDMA system over the bandlimited optical wireless (OW) channel. Furthermore, the authors evaluate the performance when a line strip multibeam system (LSMS) is used in conjunction with an angle diversity receiver in the OW MC-CDMA system. The results indicate that at a bit error rate of 10(-4) a 7 and 10 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvements are obtained through the use of MC-CDMA in a 4-user system when compared to a single-user OW on-off keying system and a 4-user OW CDMA system, respectively. This improvement is obtained by enabling multi-user communication. The performance degrades gradually with increase in the number of users. The use of LSMS and angle diversity offers a more uniform SNR over a given indoor geometry compared to a conventional diffuse OW system (CDS). Results are reported for an angle diversity LSMS MC-CDMA system and are compared to the CDS MC-CDMA system.