Smart antenna technology for wireless LAN systems

The article provides an overview of Smart Antenna technology in wireless LAN systems. Since Smart Antenna technology has powerful spatial processing ability, it is regarded as a promising solution to enhancing the data rates and capacity of wireless LAN systems. This article discusses the switched-beam based, the adaptive array based and Multiple-Input Multiple-Output based wireless LAN systems and their relevant key technologies. A set of small size, practical switched-beam antenna system, well suited for IEEE 802.11b Standard, is designed and tested. The antenna system has 9 dB gain and can be applied to the wireless Access Point. Based on the testing results, an improved scheme is also proposed, with all the beams cophasal excited.