Patent ID: 7792427

Claim:
An Optical Code Division Multiple Access (“OCDMA”) storage system, comprising: an optical communications source comprising one or more OCDMA encoders and an optical coupler optically interconnected to said one or more OCDMA encoders; a wavelength demultiplexer optically interconnected with said optical communications source via said optical coupler; a plurality of light detectors, wherein each of said plurality of light detectors is optically interconnected with said wavelength demultiplexer and associated with a unique wavelength of light; and a storage volume unit comprising a plurality of storage volumes, wherein each of said plurality of light detectors is uniquely associated with a respective one of said plurality of storage volumes; wherein said optical communications source comprises a plurality of optical data streams, wherein each said optical data stream comprises a plurality of data elements, wherein each said data element is associated with a particular wavelength, wherein said data elements corresponding with the same first wavelength from different ones of said plurality of optical data streams are stored in a first storage volume of said plurality of storage volumes, and wherein said data elements corresponding with the same second wavelength from different ones of said plurality of optical streams are stored in a second storage volume of said plurality of storage volumes.