Patent · US Expired

Antenna array system

US6453176B1 · kind B1 · utility

59Cited by
9References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 21, 1999
Grant dateSep 17, 2002
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 21, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04B7/086
  • WIPO fieldTelecommunications
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

This invention relates to an antenna array system. A problem with antenna array systems is that they provide rather inefficient use of hardware and have inflexible resource allocation. The invention provides a flexible antenna array system architecture, which has very flexible allocation of transceiver elements to beams. The invention comprise switching means (407) which associate transceiver elements (405) to beam ports of a beam former (403) connected to a antenna array (401). The association of transceiver elements (405) to beam ports are rearranged regularly, typically for each time slot, and the association is optimized for overall performance for all subscriber units. The invention is applicable for example to cellular communication systems such as GSM.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.