Method and apparatus for antenna control in a communications network

A method for optimizing the directional angle of a subscriber unit in a wireless communications system for communicating with a base station, said method comprising the steps of:

• (a) during an idle state, establishing a directional angle for an antenna of the subscriber unit;
• (b) transmitting a known signal from the subscriber unit to the base station;
• (c) receiving the known signal at an antenna of the base station;
• (d) at the base station, determining a signal quality metric of the known signal;
• (e) repeating the steps (a) through (d) wherein a different antenna directional angle is established for each execution of the step (a), and therefore a different signal quality metric is determined for each execution of the step (d);
• (f) providing information from the base station to the subscriber unit, wherein the information is representative of the signal quality metric of the known signal to the subscriber unit for each execution of the step (d);
• and
• (g) determining an optimum directional angle for the antenna at the subscriber unit based on the signal quality metrics for each execution of the step (d).

A wireless communications system for communicating between a first transceiver and a second transceiver, said wireless communications system comprising:

• at the first transceiver, a plurality of antenna elements for transmitting and receiving a composite beam;
• a like plurality of weight control components at the first transceiver, each respectively coupled to one of said plurality of antenna elements;
• said plurality of weight control components operable to establish a directional antenna angle at the first transceiver for communicating with the second transceiver;
• a transmitter at the first transceiver for transmitting a signal to the second transceiver;
• a receiver at the second transceiver for determining a signal quality metric of the received signal;
• a module at the second transceiver for providing the signal quality metric information to the first transceiver;
• wherein said plurality of weight control components are responsive to the signal quality metric information for establishing an optimal antenna directional angle at the first transceiver for communicating with the second transceiver.

An antenna apparatus for use with a first transceiver operative in a wireless communications system, for communicating with a second transceiver operative in the wireless communication system, said antenna apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of antenna elements for transmitting and receiving a composite beam;
• a like plurality of weight control components, each respectively coupled to one of said plurality of antenna elements;
• and
• each one of said plurality of weight control components controllable for imparting a weight to the signal at the associated antenna element and thereby establishing a directional antenna angle at the first transceiver for communicating with the second transceiver;
• wherein the first transceiver transmits a signal to the second transceiver at the directional antenna angle;
• wherein the second transceiver receives the signal and determines a signal quality metric associated therewith;
• wherein the signal quality metric is returned to the first transceiver;
• and
• wherein said plurality of weight control components are responsive to the signal quality metric for establishing the directional antenna angle.