An LMS Adaptive Array for Multipath Fading Reduction

Multipath fading often poses a serious hindrance in radiocommunication. The application of a least-mean-square (LMS)adaptive array to the problem of multipath fading reduction is discussed. However, it is known that multipath components are in general correlated with one another. We examine the effect of the correlation on the performance of the LMS adaptive array. When the correlation coefficient does not equal or approximate 1, the LMS adaptive array suppresses the multipath signals significantly by nulling. On the other hand, when the correlation coefficient nearly equals 1, the LMS adaptive array prevents the output signalpower from decreasing. Therefore, the LMS adaptive array mayreduce the multipath fading effectively for any correlation coefficient value. A reference signal in the LMS adaptive array is also discussed. It is shown that synchronization in the referencesignal generation must be extremely accurate. Moreover, aprocessor configuration is proposed which may generate thereference signal with the required accuracy.