Weighting factor adjustment in adaptive antenna arrays

#This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/201,381, filed Aug. 29, 2008, entitled Adaptive Antenna Weighting System for Wireless Local Area and Personal Area Networks, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/201,403, filed Aug. 29, 2008, entitled Method and System for Adaptive Antenna Array Pairing.

#The following detailed description will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which there is shown one or more of the multiple embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood, however, that the various embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings.

#In the Drawings:

#FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a multi-unit adaptive antenna array system according to one embodiment;

#In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings, similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless context dictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented here. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the Figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated and make part of this disclosure.

#Unified Modeling Language (“UML”) can be used to model and/or describe methods and systems and provide the basis for better understanding their functionality and internal operation as well as describing interfaces with external components, systems and people using standardized notation. When used herein, UML diagrams including, but not limited to, use case diagrams, class diagrams and activity diagrams, are meant to serve as an aid in describing the embodiments disclosed herein, but do not constrain implementation thereof to any particular hardware or software embodiments. Unless otherwise noted, the notation used with respect to the UML diagrams contained herein is consistent with the UML 2.0 specification or variants thereof and is understood by those skilled in the art.

#This disclosure is drawn, inter alia, to methods, apparatus, computer programs and systems related to antenna systems. In the present disclosure, wireless access units having antenna arrays of multiple antennas or antenna elements work in conjunction with one or more other access units to maintain phase lock between the various units and to create desired radiation patterns based on antenna weighting factors determined in and among the multiple access units. By controlling phase both within and between access units, a higher degree of control over the radiation patterns can be obtained. In turn, suppression of performance impairments such as multipath, signal fading, and co-channel interference is aided. Moreover, by acting in conjunction with one another, each access unit extends its range by being able to focus its antenna gain in the regions not covered by other wireless access units. Thus, it is also be possible to reduce the required transmission power by accounting for coverage areas that overlap between several of the wireless access units.