Smart Antennas for Wireless Communication Systems

Abstract

One of the most important challenges with respect to wireless access is the limited capacity of the air interface which is due to the fact that the available transmission bandwidth is finite. Since the number of wireless subscribers is still growing rapidly and the desire for higher data rates is rising – a more efficient use of frequency resources is inevitable to meet future capacity needs. Spatial filtering using adaptive or smart antennas has emerged as a promising technique to improve the performance of cellular mobile systems. This paper presents an overview of smart antennas, including types of smart-antenna systems, and the reasons for their having gained popularity, key characteristics, challenges and benefits, in the context of current and with a view towards future generation multiple input multiple output (MIMO) systems.