A novel SDMA configuration using smart antenna adopting vertical pattern and polarization control

Abstract

Smart base station antenna must be established in limited installation spaces in urban cellular environments. To realize this, smart antennas employing a vertical pattern have been studied. In this paper, we first present the characteristics of the angular spread in the vertical plane using an array antenna with elements arranged in the vertical plane in an actual cellular environment. The performance and problems of smart antennas employing the vertical pattern are elucidated by computer simulation considering the measured angular spread. This paper also proposes space division multiple access (SDMA) using smart antennas utilizing vertical pattern and polarization control with terminal polarization assignment, which can discriminate SDMA users while using a limited antenna installation space. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed SDMA system is confirmed by computer simulation using the measured propagation channel data in an actual cellular environment.