Sectorized smart antenna system and method

A method for controlling plural sector antennas of a smart antenna system for a cell transmitting and receiving station, comprising the steps of:

• coupling each sector antenna of the plural sector antennas to receiving circuits;
• determining one of the plural antennas to radiate signals;
• selectively transmitting a spread-spectrum signal via the one antenna while not transmitting via others of the plural antennas;
• and
• during the transmitting, configuring each of the other sector antennas to receive spread-spectrum signals.

A method for performing hand-off of a mobile station in a cellular system or wireless local loop that includes a smart antenna system of plural sector antennas, comprising the steps of:

• recording signal strengths received at one or more of the plural sector antennas from the mobile station;
• calculating the rates of signal changes from the recorded signal strengths;
• assessing the movement of the mobile station based on the calculated rates;
• determining when signal strengths received at one antenna from the mobile station reach a predetermined threshold;
• and
• performing a hand-off of the mobile station when reaching of the predetermined threshold is so determined.

A method for arranging plural sector antennas into plural serving sectors of a cell base station, comprising the steps of:

• associating with each serving sector a respective first subset of the plural sector antennas according to a first arrangement;
• measuring a traffic load in each serving sector;
• analyzing the measured traffic loads to determine if redistribution of the arrangement of antennas associated with the plural serving sectors should be performed;
• if redistribution should be performed, calculating a balanced arrangement of antennas within the serving sectors;
• and
• associating with each serving sector a respective second subset of plural antennas according to the balanced arrangement, wherein at least one respective subset for an associated serving sector differs from the respective first subset for the associated serving sector.

A computer readable medium bearing instructions for controlling plural sector antennas of a smart antenna system, said instructions being arranged to cause one or more processors upon execution thereof to perform the steps of:

• coupling each sector antenna of the plural sector antennas to receiving circuits;
• determining one of the plural antennas to radiate signals;
• selectively transmitting a spread-spectrum signal via the one antenna while not transmitting via others of the antennas;
• and
• during the transmitting, configuring each of the other sector antennas to receive spread-spectrum signals.

A computer readable medium bearing instructions for performing hand-off of a mobile station in a cellular system that includes a smart antenna system of plural sector antennas, said instructions being arranged to cause one or more processors upon execution thereof to perform the steps of:

• recording signal strengths received at one or more of the plural sector antennas from the mobile station;
• calculating the rates of signal changes from the recorded signal strengths;
• assessing the movement of the mobile station based on the calculated rates;
• determining when signal strengths received at one antenna from the mobile station reach a predetermined threshold;
• and
• performing a hand-off of the mobile station when reaching of the predetermined threshold is so determined.

A computer readable medium bearing instructions for performing location finding of a mobile station in a cellular system that includes a smart antenna system of plural sector antennas along with a cell-site signal coverage map, said instructions being arranged to cause one or more processors upon execution thereof to perform the steps of:

• recording signal strengths received at one or more of the plural sector antennas from the mobile station;
• calculating the rates of signal changes from the recorded signal strengths;
• assessing the movement of the mobile station based on the calculated rates;
• predicting the mobile station's movement based on the received signal strengths, and
• determining the location of the mobile station by comparing the received signal strength from at least one sector antenna against the cell-site signal coverage profile along with its predicted movement.

A computer readable medium bearing instructions for arranging plural sector antennas into plural serving sectors of a call base station, said instructions being arranged to cause one or more processors upon execution thereof to perform the steps of:

• associating with each serving sector a respective first subset of the plural sector antennas according to a first arrangement;
• measuring a traffic load in each serving sector;
• analyzing the measured traffic loads to determine if redistribution of the arrangement of antennas associated with the plural serving sectors should be performed;
• if redistribution should be performed, calculating a balanced arrangement of antennas within the serving sectors;
• and
• associating with each serving sector a respective second subset of plural antennas according to the balanced arrangement, wherein at least one respective subset for an associated serving sector differs from the respective first subset for the associated serving sector.