Characterising the radio propagation channel for smart antenna systems

Author

Ward, C. ; Smith, M. ; Jeffries, A. ; Adams, U. ; Hudson, J.

Author_Institution

Nortel Technol., Harlow, UK

Volume

8

Issue

4

fYear

1996

fDate

8/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

191

Lastpage

200

Abstract

Cellular communications have become the success story of the late 20th century. In just 15 years the global cellular subscriber base has grown to 60 million and it is forecast to exceed 350 million by early next century. This rapid growth has created the dichotomy for cellular operators of increasing pressure from customers to improve coverage, capacity and quality within their networks whilst the ever growing competition in the cellular marketplace demands that operational costs be reduced to the lowest possible level. One development which can assist network operators in reconciling these conflicting demands is the smart antenna. However, the successful deployment of smart antennas will require a much greater understanding of the characteristics of signals within the mobile/base-station transmission path. The measurement equipment described in this paper has enabled the acquisition of data which contributes significantly towards the understanding of these propagation path characteristics

Keywords

antennas; cellular radio; data acquisition; electromagnetic wave scattering; fading; radio networks; radiowave propagation; telecommunication channels; EM wave scattering; capacity; cellular communications; cellular marketplace; cellular operators; coverage; data acquisition; fading; measurement equipment; mobile/base-station transmission path; network operators; operational costs reduction; propagation path characteristics; radio propagation channel; smart antenna systems;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electronics & Communication Engineering Journal

Publisher

iet

ISSN

0954-0695

Type

jour

DOI

10.1049/ecej:19960404

Filename

532841