Optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) is an encouraging multiplexing technique for future optical communication systems. This paper analyzes the performance of the traditional and balanced OCDMA receivers associated with their
appropriate codes. Several 2-D codes with different properties are simulated in this work. The experimental simulations are implemented by Optisystem software to demonstrate the performance of a three-user OCDMA system operating at 1Gb/s. The simulation results reveal that the traditional receiver employing zero-correlation codes has better performance if compared to the balanced scheme. In addition, the assigned wavelengths to each user highly affect the system performance.