Technologies
Combining the response of multiple antennas in an array improves the signal quality in wireless communications systems. But the number of antennas often outnumbers the channels that the system can process. This technology provides a method for identifying an optimal subset of antennas to use. An initial subset is selected, and an objective function indicative of the signal quality is recorded. By iteratively replacing antennas and recalculating the objective functions, the configuration with the best response is determined. This may lead to increasing the reliability of wireless communications.
Conventional methods require information about the system’s channel matrix, but in some systems this information is unknown. This technology finds the best antenna subset without needing any information about the channel matrix, which makes it implementable in a greater number of systems. A discrete stochastic approximation rapidly identifies which antennas to use. Configurations can be determined for both transmission and reception. The technology is applicable in any hardware system using antenna arrays.
A comparative algorithm is used for determination of when the best configuration has been found.
Tech Ventures Reference: IR M11-088