Technology Assessment

    Smart antennas for mobile communications are not yet available commercially. But it is a well-known fact that many manufacturers are working on solutions for both 2G and 3G systems. This section will give a short overview of some of the documented trials and testbeds, but should not be considered as a complete list.

Ericsson/Mannesmann Trial in Giessen, Germany

Ericsson has performed a trial in cooperation with the German GSM1800 operator Mannesmann in the city of Giessen. Detailed results from the trial have not yet been published, but preliminary results are promising.

Tsunami II Trial in Bristol, UK

Tsunami II is a project in the European 4th framework program ACTS3 dealing with the development of a smart antenna testbed and the implementation of a smart antenna base station. Some of the participants in this project have been the University of Aalborg (DK), Bosch Telekom (D), Orange (UK), and the University of Bristol (UK).

The U.S. company Arraycomm

Has developed smart antenna solutions for the GSM standard and for the Japanese Personal Handyphone System (PHS). In June 1997 a smart antenna wireless local loop (WLL) solution based on using PHS was commercially available.