Direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) communication systems using random polyphase sequences with coherent reception in multipath fading channels are considered. By examining the asymptotic characteristics of the multiple access interference and multipath interference, we show that the DS-CDMA system performance with random mp-phase sequences of m(p) greater than or equal to 3 is better than that with random binary sequences in multipath fading environment. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.