All You Need To Know About Smart Antenna
14 Mar 2023
With the emerging future trends and an array of smart signals processing algorithms, smart antennas have gained popularity and engagement throughout these years. The smart antennas operate on a dual-goal strategy and deliver more enhanced transmission of radio signals. It has a smart ability to increase the receiving signals.
What Is A Smart Antenna?
The digital antenna arrays or the smart antenna are the adaptive antennas that are used in the identification of directions of the signals and further use them to execute a beamforming process.
Directions by them are measured through various techniques such as the matrix pencil method and the ESPRIT algorithm. Out of these, the most efficient one is the matrix pencil method.
Working Of The Smart Antenna
These adaptive array smart antennas operate on a signal-processing algorithm that assists in stimulating signals acquired from the external environment and then processing the same.
Moreover, the smart antenna helps in identifying the direction of arrival which then helps in recognizing the target point. It is a robust and highly effective antenna that is used to form beams and nullify interferences.
An expert antenna that has varied applications along with a simple and modular design structure that makes it easy to handle and dismantle. Also, it assists in the improvement of wireless system communications.
Some of the smart antennas manufactured by antenna experts are yagi antennas, fiberglass collinear antennas, HF broadband multiwire antennas, horn antenna, Discone antenna, parabolic antenna, GPS jammer antenna, DME antenna, tetra antenna, helical antennas, transponder antennas, anti drone antenna, ground station antenna, SATCOM ground station antenna, tactical radio relay antenna, and FTS antenna.
Advantages Of Smart Antenna
A Smart antenna has a wide range of features which makes it sustain numerous advantages. Let us quickly look at what makes this antenna high performing and efficient among others!
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Capability To Reduce Interference
The most important and beneficial advantage of smart antennas is that they can reduce the interference level. In this case, the interference which is caused during the transmission process is reduced to a certain level and even nullified with the assistance of directionality introduced by the smart antenna.
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Innovative Design Structure
Smart antennas have the most unique and innovative design structure which provides them enhancement in their capabilities to perform efficiently. It is an array of antennas having digital signal processing units that are used to change its pattern dynamically.
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Security
Unlike other omnidirectional antennas, the smart antenna is a directional antenna which means that it receives and radiates greater communication waves and signals in a particular direction. This explains that any obstacle or person needs to be in between the two communication devices or at the same particular location.
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Number Of Users
Since the smart antennas are directed in a single direction, the frequencies can be reused resulting in an increased number of users. This would gradually result in reducing the operating costs of this adaptive antenna.
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High Bandwidth
High band antennas operate on a high-frequency bandwidth that ranges from 3 GHz to 3.9 GHz. The bandwidth increases from the use of and reuse of frequencies in an array of smart antennas.
Disadvantages Of Smart Antenna
While everything that has an advantage comes with disadvantages as well. Likewise, the smart antenna also retains the disadvantages of its own. Let us have a look at the following drawbacks of smart antennas:
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Large Size
As smart antennas use antenna arrays, it becomes large and inconvenient to handle or carry. The huge size of the smart antenna is what makes it the most unfavorable in many applications.
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Expensive
Since smart antennas use the latest technologies, it makes tremendously more expensive than traditional smart antenna arrays. Its compound and complicated design makes it even more out of budget.
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Complex Nature
There is an end number of complexities in the smart antenna to the traditional communication antennas. This moreover results in harder and more inconvenient identification of problems and faults in the antenna.
Types Of Smart Antennas
The smart antennas can be classified as switched beam smart antennas and adaptive array smart antennas. This array of antennas can be further categorized under single-beam directional antennas, multi-beam directional antennas, single-user beam forming, and multi-user beamforming.
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Switched Beam Antennas
The SBAs or the switched beam antennas provide high gain frequency ranges with reduced size and weight. This category of antennas provides greater azimuthal beam coverage with a full 360 degrees of coverage capacity.
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Adaptive Array Antennas
The adaptive array smart antennas allow the signal beams to continually steer in any direction. This, in turn, helps in maximizing the signals received and reducing or nullifying any of the interferences.
You might be getting confused between reconfigurable antennas and smart antennas right? Well, reconfigurable antennas are those that are single-element antennas whereas, smart antennas consist of antenna arrays.
Applications Of Smart Antennas
Smart antennas are widely used across the globe and serve plenty of applications. It is applied in various acoustic signal processing, track and scan radar, and cellular systems.
It further assists in the wide-range transmission and reception of signals and increases the signal quality of the radio-based system and enhances the capacity of frequency reuse.
Summary
To have an effective and efficient wireless network, you need to have a proper antenna that exactly serves your purpose and is customized as per the requirement of your application. For home and land security, naval shipboard, defense, military, and aviation all you need to look for is a perfect antenna design having adequate features as per your demands.
Smart antennas manufactured by antenna experts are robust, high-quality, and contain high connectivity and rigidity. These are highly remarkable in beamforming and reducing or nullifying any interferences. Also, they help in identifying the exact location through their signal transmitting and receiving technologies.
Antenna Experts supply antennas that are efficient in monitoring, scanning, receiving, surveillance, transmitting, and receiving signals. Their antenna designs have a specialized and innovative design that helps in producing signals of the utmost high range.
14 Mar 2023
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