Efficient Radio Transmission with Adaptive and Distributed Beamforming for Intelligent WiMAX

摘要

In this paper, we introduce Adaptive Beamforming (AB) and Distributed Beamforming (DB) as two efficient techniques for Intelligent WiMAX (I-WiMAX). I-WiMAX is a new maritime communication system, consisting of Smart Radio (SR) principles and mobile WiMAX based on the IEEE 802.16e standard. Adopting AB, the same spectrum can accommodate more users by directing the main beam towards desired users while antenna pattern nulls towards others. To reduce the channel interferences caused by spectrum reusing, the Null Broadening (NB) method is required for downlink beamforming of I-WiMAX. A new NB method is presented in this paper with iterative weights computing for different OFDM subcarriers. Considering the spatial channel model seen at Subscriber Stations (SS) based on the von Mises distribution, the coverage range of one Base Station (BS) is dramatically enlarged by employing the NB technique. Meanwhile, assuming those SS which are within the coverage range as nodes of a relay network, the DB technique is introduced to forward signals to distant SS by forming the main beams towards them instead of deploying more BS to increase the communication range. It is proven in this paper that DB can successfully do the job. To reuse the spectrum, two DB methods are presented by directing different beams towards different required directions at the same time. With the AB and DB techniques, reliable I-WiMAX links can be established for long distances, with more optimum spectrum use and less infrastructure.