Modal antenna array for interference mitigation

A modal antenna array comprising:

• a plurality of antenna elements, with the antenna array comprising two or more modal antenna elements, each modal antenna being selectively configurable in one of two or more radiation modes;
• a common feed point directly connected to the modal antenna elements in the array, with a plurality of transmission lines, each transmission line connecting one of the antenna elements in the array to the common feed point;
• and
• a look-up table, the look-up table is populated with multiple beam states that can be generated by the modal antenna array, the look-up table being configured to provide control signal information that is used to select the radiation mode of the modal antenna elements populating the modal array to establish one or more communication links with one or multiple more communication devices.

A modal antenna array comprising:

• a plurality of antenna elements, with the antenna elements comprising one or more modal antennas, each modal antenna being selectively configurable in one of two or more radiation modes;
• a common feed point associated with the modal antenna array, with a plurality of transmission lines, each transmission line connecting one of the antenna elements in the array to the common feed point;
• and
• an algorithm resident in a processor;
• wherein the radiation modes of the array are separated into pre-dominantly vertical polarization and pre-dominantly horizontal polarization groups, radiation modes of the array that are pre-dominantly vertical polarization can be sampled and used, or radiation modes of the array that are pre-dominantly horizontal polarization can be sampled and used, or a mix of modes from the two groups can be sampled and used, the algorithm is configured to implement a radiation mode selection process to optimize a radiation pattern of the modal array and to establish one or multiple communication links with one or multiple communication devices.

A communication system comprising:

• a modal antenna array, the modal antenna array comprising:
• a plurality of antenna elements, with the antenna elements comprising one or more modal antennas, each modal antenna being selectively configurable in one of two or more radiation modes;
• a transceiver connected to the antenna array;
• a processor which provides control signals to said antenna array;
• and an algorithm resident in said processor;
• wherein the communication system is positioned in a location where communication with one or more other wireless systems is to be performed, with the one or more other wireless systems comprising a second end of a communication link and the communication system comprising a first end of the communication link,
• wherein software which has been loaded into the processor of one or more other wireless system or systems is used to measure a communication link metric as the radiation modes are switched on the antenna array of the communication system, for determining one or multiple survey points in the location where communication is to be performed, the survey points being arranged at different locations and/or with different orientations or configurations for the wireless systems, the radiation mode performance at the survey points having been collected is used by the algorithm to provide optimal communication link performance between the communication system and one or multiple more wireless devices.