Adaptive arrays for narrowband CDMA base stations

Base station antenna arrays are a promising method for providing significant capacity increases in cellular mobile radio systems. This paper examines receiver structures and algorithms to assess the potential capacity gains from the employment of multiple receiver antenna elements, of different sizes, for code division multiple access (CDMA) systems. It considers antenna arrays for the mobile to-base station or reverse link of a CDMA cellular system such as the IS-95 standard. It begins with an introduction to CDMA communication systems and also addresses the general topic of antenna array receivers. Channel modelling is then discussed, as this will influence the design of CDMA receivers. The specific form of receiver array processing algorithms is then discussed and some performance comparisons provided. Finally, the most important reason for implementing antenna array systems, the capacity gains which are achievable, is indicated