Capacity and service extension for future wireless networks using adaptive antennas

The spatial filtering properties of adaptive antenna arrays in wireless networks make it possible to confine the radio energy associated with a given user to a small addressed volume. This reduces the overall level of co-channel interference within the service area and ultimately leads to an increase in capacity for interference limited systems. In addition, by using the antenna array to spatially separate and reject multipath energy, the resulting delay spread can be significantly reduced offering the possibility of service in areas which would otherwise be restricted by time dispersion. The article show that adaptive antenna arrays, when applied to a DECT system, can increase service provision to areas which would otherwise be limited by multipath propagation. Furthermore, the use of spatial filtering allows the possibility of multiple users on the same frequency and time slot by minimising co-channel interference from other users. The capacity increase achievable can be as much as seven times