Capacity and trunking efficiency of smart antenna

The smart antenna is believed to be the solution for a high capacity system. It improves both C/I ratio and trunk efficiency. In this paper, we use a computer simulation to compare the capacity among omni, 3-sector, Lee's micro cell, 6 sector and a 12-antenna switched beam smart antenna. First, the C/I ratios under different pathless exponent and reuse factor are compared within these systems. Then, the trunking efficiencies among these systems are also compared. As the result shows, the smart antenna does support a reasonably good C/I ratio, and the highest trunking efficiency. This simulator is also enhanced to calculate the path loss exponent for specific design areas based on the collected measured data. This path loss exponent then can be used as input to the simulator to simulate the C/I and frequency reuse factor for the area. Measured data were collected in LA. Path loss exponents were calculated using Lee's propagation model. Based on the calculated path loss exponent and the simulator, in a dense urban area, the smart antenna system can support a k=3 reuse scheme.