Things to Consider Before Buying a Smart Antenna

Smart antennas work on beamforming and antenna array technologies and give many benefits over other antennas. This blog highlights the characteristics of a smart antenna, the significance of an antenna, its benefits, and the factors to consider while buying smart antennas.

Importance of a Smart Antenna

High gain smart antenna is widely used in wireless devices today to improve communication. It works better than the existing methods in smart devices. Smart antennas improve the reception and transmission of signals and capacity in mobile wireless networks.

High gain smart antennas are used to add increased spatial diversity to decrease interference between users and increase user capacity via dynamic adaptation of the antenna’s radiating properties. Some of the well-known smart antennas are high gain Yagi antenna, ILS Directional Antenna, Helical Antenna, military antenna, Naval antenna, and military vehicle antenna

These antennas adapt their radiation pattern to achieve better performance. Adaptive smart antennas are implemented commercially in infrastructure systems like military base, satellite connection, and mobile telephone base stations.

How Does a Smart Antenna Work?

Smart antennas use with the help of beamforming and antenna array technologies. Both these technologies leverage a combination of different antennas to improve the beams of the transmit signals and improve wireless communication. The combination of these two technologies helps the smart antennas get better benefits. Let us discuss both technologies in detail:

1. Beamforming Technology

Beamforming is a kind of technology that directionally emits signals. It also improves the quality of signals received by STAs and improves the throughput. This technology is supported since the release of Wi-Fi 4. You can implement beamforming technology by combining various antennas.

In a multi-antenna system, when signals emitted by various antennas arrive at a location, zero-energy signals occur if 2 beams have equal attenuation but opposite phases. It improves the user experience and signal strength.

2. Antenna Array Technology

Antenna array technology is a kind of beam-switching technology and contains many small antennas. Every small antenna has tiny antenna elements and can be enabled or disabled. Every small antenna can be used as a directional antenna or omnidirectional antenna. The combination of small antennas is related to pattern, polarization, and gain. The number of small antennas and their antenna elements determine the number of ultimately formed beams.

Benefits of a Smart Antenna

Smart antennas have several benefits such as:

·        They help to improve coverage in small, medium, and long-distance areas

·        These antennas are used in various office areas that have partitions. A smart antenna enhances the coverage of APs.

·        Smart antennas will work smoothly through glass partitions and walls.

·        A smart antenna offers a wider coverage in high-density areas where there are multiple users

Things to Determine While Buying a Smart Antenna

Do you want to buy a smart antenna? Then read this section as it describes all the things to consider while buying a smart antenna such as:

·         Gain of an Antenna

The gain of an antenna is connected to its directivity. The directivity of an antenna is a numerical indication of an antenna’s ability to focus on energy in a specific direction rather than spreading the energy out uniformly in a wide area. The parameter that determines the loss of an antenna is known as the radiation efficiency which has a value between 0 and 1.

·         Antenna Frequency

The bandwidth and frequency range of a smart antenna are closely related terms. The bandwidth of an antenna is the range of frequencies on which the antenna fulfills a specific parameter specification. These parameters include radiation pattern, gain, and VSWR.

·         Placement

For the proper antenna placement, the height, distance between antennas, and the earth’s curvature are determined. You must smart antennas as high as possible because of VHF signals and certain restrictions. The orientation of your antenna must match and should be close to the same plane as the transmission.

·         VSWR specification

 VSWR in a grid parabolic antenna is the Voltage Standing Wave Ratio. It is an indication of a mismatch between an antenna and the feed line connected to it. The range of values for VSWR is from 1 to infinity. You must choose a VSWR value under 2 as it was most suitable for antenna applications.

Final words

These are some of the most important things to consider while buying an Antenna for your startup and businesses. A smart antenna is widely used in many smart devices today to get better performance.

You can use a High Gain Helical Antenna in complex wireless areas where there are many obstacles. A military Navel antenna is used in many ships and boats to improve communication between two boats and ships.

Smart antennas help to boost signal strength and are widely used in smart devices today.