A direct-sequence spread spectrum (DS/SS) receiver for suppressing multiple-access interference in direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS/CDMA) communication systems is introduced. The proposed receiver does not require knowledge of other users' spreading codes, timing, or phase information. Moreover, the receiver allows the number of taps to be chosen independently of the processing gain and, hence, is easily applicable to CDMA systems employing either a small or a large processing gain. Performance analysis, including average probability of error and signal-to-noise ratio, is provided, and results are presented for systems varying from lightly loaded (for example, eight user/255 chip) to heavily loaded (for example, 50 user/200 chip). Performance results indicate that the proposed receiver outperforms the linear correlation receiver and, in many cases, it does so by a considerable margin.