A simple adaptive beamformer for ultrawideband wireless systems

Abstract

This paper introduces a simple beamformer for ultrawideband (UWB) wireless networks. The architecture consists of a two-element antenna array, a phase shifter and a signal combiner. The performance of the proposed beamformer is analyzed in terms of radiation pattern characteristics over the FCC's defined operating band for UWB communications devices. It is shown that this simple architecture can provide useful interference rejection and range extension capabilities for high data-rate UWB wireless networks. In particular, it is shown that the radiation pattern characteristics of the proposed sub-optimal beamformer remain beneficial over the allocated UWB band, even given its low complexity and implementation cost