Pattern diversity for single RF user terminals in multiuser environments

Although the utilization of multiple antennas enhances significantly the performance of multiuser systems, it is prohibitive for mobile devices due to size and power restrictions. In order to alleviate this problem we propose an alternative mobile architecture, built on compact antenna structures with fast beamforming capabilities. It is shown that the proposed architecture combined with a simple training procedure, enhances the average throughput of a multiuser system. The performance is compared with that of user devices with one or three antenna elements employing maximal ratio combining.