A code tree of two-dimensional orthogonal variable spreading factor (2D-OVSF) code matrices for a multicarrier direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (MC-DS/CDMA) communications system is generated by providing two sets of 2×2 orthogonal matrices {A(1)(2×2), A(2)(2×2)} and {B(1)(2×2), B(2)(2×2)}. The first set of 2×2 matrices is used to generate a pair of sibling nodes in the code tree that respectively represent matrices A(1)(2×2α) and A(2)(2×2α) by iterating the relationship: A(1)(2×21+β)=[A(1)(2×2β)A(2)(2×2β)], The matrices A(1)(2×2α) and A(2)(2×2α) are A(2)(2×21+β)=[A(1)(2×2β)−A(2)(2×2β)]. used to generate a child node of one of the sibling nodes. The child node contains an M×N matrix, which is found by iterating the relationship: A(i−1)(O×P)=[B(1)(2×2){circle around (×)}A(i/2)(0/2×P/2)] where {circle around (×)} indicates a Kronecker product. A(i)(O×P)=[B(2)(2×2){circle around (×)}A(i/2)(0/2×P/2)],