System aspects of smart-antenna technology in cellular wireless communications - An overview

In this paper, we surveyed the three main system aspects of smart-antenna ( SA) technology in wireless communications, i.e., SA receiver, wireless netw ork control, and planning with SA's, A classification of SA receivers and t heir algorithms is given in order to simplify orientation in a very large a mount of structures and algorithms. We discuss system integration of SA rec eivers, taking into consideration expected propagation conditions, user mob ility, and offered traffic, Several radio network planning and upgrading co ncepts associated with SA's are evaluated, We describe possible radio netwo rks architectures when SA's are used at the mobiles, base stations, or at b oth ends. Radio network control functions with SA's at different layers are briefly examined, Existing experimental and commercially available SA's an d their performance are surveyed.