ISSN (Print) : 0974-6846

Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol 10(5), DOI: 10.17485/ijst/2017/v10i5/99018, February 2017 ISSN (Online) : 0974-5645

Beamforming in Wireless Communication

Standards: A Survey
G. Charis* and N. Showme
Department of Telecommunication Engineering, SRM University, Kanchipuram - 603203, Tamil Nadu, India;
[email protected], [email protected]

Abstract
Background/Objectives: In this paper, we have analyzed the beamforming technology and surveyed the beamforming
methods used over the years in various wireless applications and how it can be improved to be implemented in future
technologies. Methods/Statistical Analysis: Beamforming plays an important role in pointing an antenna to the signal
source and thereby reducing interference and improving signal quality. The importance of the technology and how each
standard has benefited from it has been identified. We have then provided a review of the research going into this field
on how the application of the technology can be employed in the future standards to provide a better user experience.
Findings: At higher frequencies, more antennas can be packed into the same physical area. The implementation of hybrid
beamforming technologies in large antenna arrays in these frequencies has yielded good performance. Advanced hybrid
beamforming algorithm uses both analog and digital beamforming methods and not only offers highly directional beam to
overcome propagation loss, but also advanced digital domain processing such as multi beam MIMO with lesser complexity.
Applications: Use of millimeter wave band for future technologies can result in the adoption of various beamforming
methods in a large scale in various wireless applications.

Keywords: Antenna Systems, Beamforming, Cellular Standards, Indoor Networks, Millimeter Waves

1. Introduction reliability and for supporting high data rate applications

is very relevant. One method is the exploitation of the
The term Wireless Communication was introduced in the spatial domain of the communication channel by means
20th century and wireless devices have developed over the of multiple antennas2–4. Multiple antenna systems play
years. In the present world, these devices have become an an important role in the improvement for enhancing the
integral part of our lives and the importance of wireless spectral efficiency of the wireless systems. With more
communication cannot be undermined. Some of the antenna elements, it is possible to steer the transmission
applications for wireless communication include devices toward the intended receiver. There is an abundance of
like cellular mobile phones, zigbee wireless technology, spectrum in the millimeter wave band and significant
Wi-Fi, GPS etc. research efforts are going into these bands5. Fortunately,
In recent years, due to a large growth in the number of at higher frequencies, more antennas can be packed into
users added to the development of applications requiring the same physical area. Therefore, these higher frequency
high bit rates, an enormous increase in traffic has been systems are expected to use large scale antenna arrays
experienced by wireless communication systems. As to overcome the poor propagation conditions at those
personal wireless devices increase, the problem of bands6.
interference, increasing data traffic and capacity also For overcoming the problem of interference, the
increases as RF spectrum becomes more congested1. combination of multiple antenna arrays and beamforming
In such an environment, the development of methods help in suppressing the interfering signals and
interference mitigation methods and proper radio resource receiving the signals incoming from the desired ones.
allocation schemes to guarantee the communication The basic principle of beamforming is the cancellation of

* Author for correspondence

 Beamforming in Wireless Communication Standards: A Survey

interfering signal by constructing signals in such a way that 2.1 Beamforming in Wireless
at required angles we obtain constructive interference and Communication
at other angles, the interference is nullified by destructive Beamforming can also be known as spatial selectivity
interference7. where with the appropriate signal processing techniques,
Research on the role of digital beamforming in wireless an array of antennas can be steered in such a way that
communication has huge scope especially with the advent interfering signals from a particular direction can be
of millimeter wave technologies which is the frequency cancelled13. Beamforming works by combining elements
band from 30 GHz to 300 GHz8,9. This has motivated us in a phased array in such a way that signals at particular
to survey various beamforming methods emphasizing on angles experience constructive interference (at the main
the problems faced in wireless communication and future lobe) while others experience destructive interference
trends. (at the nulls) as shown in Figure 1 and at the receiver by
In this paper, we present an overview of beamforming having gains in one direction and attenuation in others,
methods and their importance in wireless communication and signal to noise ratio is significantly increased14.
standards history. We describe different types of In the receiver beamformer, each signal is multiplied
beamforming and how beamforming was implemented by a weight. Different weighing patterns can be used
in each standard. We also present the future trends in to obtain the required sensitivity patterns like Dolph-
wireless communication and how beamforming can be Chebyshev. The side lobes and nulls are created along
used to improve the performance in keeping with the with the main lobe. The position of the main lobe should
advancements. be controlled along with the side lobe width and nulls to
obtain the required pattern10.
2. Importance of Beamforming
The basic idea of beamforming is to focus energy towards
a receiver. Traditionally access points were equipped with
omni-directional antennas, named so because they send
energy in all directions. Since they radiate waves in every
direction, receiver antennas need not track every client
but it comes with its own disadvantages. Alternatively,
energy can be focused toward the particular receiver
which is the principle of beamforming10.
Beamforming is being used in radio waves as well as
sound waves. To understand the concept of beamforming,
let us consider the example of sound waves travelling
towards a ship from a sonar projector. To obtain a single
sharp pulse, the beamforming will send pulses at slight
delays instead of all at the same time resulting in an effect
of a single large pulse11. The same principle is used in
antennas forming a phased array12. Figure 1. Example of a radiation pattern.
Other applications of beamforming apart from phased
antenna radar are communication, sonar, optical imaging, Beamforming can be broadly classified based on
astrophysical explorations, geophysical explorations and location as transmit beamformer or receiver beamforming.
biomedical. Sonar systems which have plenty of military If the beamformer is placed between the signal source and
and commercial uses, utilize beamforming to analyze and the radiating elements, in order to direct the beam to a
evaluate possible targets in water. Optical beamforming is specific receiver, it is transmit beamforming. While in
a technology which focuses LED light on a desire target. the receiver, it is performed between the antenna module
Adaptive beamforming is used to significantly improve and the antenna arrays so that the spatial sensitivity of the
the image quality in biomedical ultra sound by avoiding antenna module can be controlled. Another classification
interfering signals, thus improving the image quality. for beamforming can be done based on Signal Domain

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 G. Charis and N. Showme

as Frequency Domain Beamforming and Space-Time technology, it was still supported by the 3rd Generation
Beamforming. Space-Time can further be classified as Partnership Project or 3GPP. The process of forming the
Analog Beamforming and Digital Beamforming and beam in the desired direction and nulls in the direction of
Analog can be either RF or baseband beamforming. Less jammers was incorporated18.
common but equally important classification is based on UMTS specifies three possible modes which are
weight vector application, which can be either adaptive flexible beamforming and fixed beam patterns and none.
beamforming or fixed weight beamforming. Adaptive None denoted that beamforming is optional and flexible
beamforming has become an integral part of the modern beamforming denoted adaptive beamforming and grid of
smart antenna technology. Classifications can also be fixed beams denoted a set of predefined beams17,19.
done based on channel estimation, signal bandwidth and
received data15. 3.3 Fourth Generation – LTE/LTE-Advanced
Traditionally, in spite of having numerous advantages, The Long Term Evolution or LTE standard was developed
beamforming was not widely applied since analog methods as a new standard which is IP and packet based. The
were expensive and sensitive to component tolerances and decade old UMTS networks did not have any more
drifts. But after the advent of modern digital technology, capacity to meets the high bandwidth and high speed
which offers high speed A/D convertors and digital down demands made by the end user which resulted in the
convertors at cheaper rates, digital beamforming and adoption of 4G20. LTE was built on technologies such
hybrid beamforming are being widely employed16. as coordinated multipoint, advanced multiple-input
multiple-output (MIMO), heterogeneous networks and
3. Beamforming History in carrier aggregation21,22.
Operators seem hesitant to implement smart
Wireless Communication beamforming techniques into base stations, mainly due to
Standards cost and complexity of such designs. Fixed approach was
the most adopted approach in adaptive signal processing
Beamforming methods used in cellular phone standards due to its advantages like simplicity23.
and other wireless communication standards have Still beamforming has the capability to enhance
advanced through the generations to achieve high density the modern cellular systems. Both switched beam
cells and higher throughputs. In traditional cellular and adaptive beam can be used. The switched beam
communication systems, beamforming is implemented at beamforming systems have a switching network that can
the baseband16. select the appropriate beam to be received at the mobile
station (MS) while the adaptive beam system can form a
3.1 Second Generation Cellular Standard beam for each user by using adaptive array processors19.
The 2nd generation cellular standards introduced the use
of digital technology. Here, elementary beamforming 3.4 Indoor Networks
methods were used to select a particular receiver After IEEE 802.11 was standardized in 1997, various
antenna by the transmitter17. Some of the drawbacks Wireless LAN standards have been introduced. Indoor
of 2G technology like weaker digital signal at higher environments are known to have severe multipath effects
frequencies, angular decay curve and reduced range of that can cause significant fading of wireless signals and
sound which basically arise from the use of digital signal the key idea of using beamforming in indoor networks is
were overcome in 3rd generation technology. to carefully choose the signal applied to each individual
element of the antenna so that multipath effects can be
3.2 Third Generation Cellular Standard avoided and SNR can be improved.
3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standardized Beamforming is being deployed in various indoor
Universal Mobile Telecommunication Systems (UMTS) network standards such as WiMAX, Wi-Fi and WPAN
with the aim of technical specifications and reports for standards. Before 802.11n standard was developed,
a 3rd generation and beyond mobile system. Although Access Points (AP) used antennas with fixed radiation
elementary beamforming methods were an early patterns. These antennas were omni-directional and the

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 Beamforming in Wireless Communication Standards: A Survey

radiation pattern could not be changed once used even dimensions28.

though manufacturers could use external antennas with Use of millimeter wave bands can result in the
the highest range and narrowest beam width24. In the adoption of beamforming methods on a large scale.
802.11n, the absence of standardization made it hard The small wavelengths of mmWave frequencies make
for beamforming to work effectively among vendor the use of a large number of antenna elements much
products which was overcome to a great extent by the easier. This way, highly directional beams corresponding
standardization of beamforming in the 5th generation Wi- to large array gains can be synthesized. An appropriate
Fi standard, 802.11ac. beamforming scheme is therefore necessary to focus
To improve the reliability of the Wi-Fi signal, 802.11ac the transmitted/received signal in a desired direction to
beamforming technology takes advantage of the MIMO overcome problems like path loss and propagation loss.
system25, in which the signals sent by multiple antennas is For implementing it, an advanced hybrid beamforming
combined to produce a resultant beam. Any device with algorithm is described6,29, which uses both analog and
multiple antennas can perform beamforming to any other digital beamforming methods. This not only offers highly
device at any time. But 802.11ac adds the opportunity directional beam to overcome propagation loss, but also
for the receiver to help the beamforming transmitter to advanced digital domain processing such as multi beam
precisely steer its transmitted energy towards the receiver MIMO with lesser complexity.
by a process called “channel sounding”. The use of large scale arrays in millimeter waves does
Channel sounding is performed as explained: a pose a problem due to higher system bandwidths. In30,
NDP (Null Data Packet) Announcement frame to the two alternative cases of transmit and receive architecture
concerned receiver by the transmitter. When the receiver are considered which is an all-RF architecture. Here,
gets the NDP, it analyzes and calculates a feedback matrix hybrid architecture is used where control of MIMO and
towards the transmitter which is accepted and the steering beamforming is split between RF and baseband.
matrix according to the feedback obtained is calculated. Even though, it is still unsure as to which frequency
This steering matrix is then used to adjust the phase and band will be utilized for 5G technology, we can be assured
amplitude of the signal, and therefore the transmitter can that beamforming is going to play a major role in the
transmit data toward right directions. Thus it is ensured future.
that, in the required directions, the signals get stronger In the case of indoor networks, IEEE 802.11ad standard,
and in the unwanted directions the signals get weaker and WiGig which operates at 60 GHz at multi-gigabit speeds is
the energy is used in the most efficient way. deemed the future of wireless networks at short distances.
To overcome the signal decay seen in higher frequency
transmissions, WiGig uses adaptive beamforming to a
4. Future Trends great extent. The 60 GHz signal cannot typically penetrate
To obtain a peak data rate of gigabits per second, we walls but can propagate through reflections and bouncing
require advanced antennas, flexible and user specific off walls, ceiling and floor using beamforming31.
beamforming and a new mobility algorithm26. For
this, spectrum at higher frequencies will be utilized 5. Conclusion
and advanced antennas will be required to overcome
the propagation loss and cost related problems that are Over the past few years, telecommunication academia
common in these frequencies. and industry has put in significant efforts on the research
One of the effective solutions being discussed is the for providing better user experience by improving
utilization of the millimeter wave spectrum from 30 GHz the spectral efficiency, aggregating more spectra and
to 300 GHz. According to27, the misconception regarding deploying more base stations. Various technologies
higher propagation loss at higher frequencies is refuted by have been developed and deployed for obtaining higher
experimenting with actual patch antennas at 3GHz and data rates. One of the most significant and widely used
array antennas at 30 GHz proving that higher frequencies technologies is the beamforming technology. In this
can indeed be used for cellular technologies. Advances paper, we have presented the importance of beamforming
in the low power CMOS RF circuits have paved way for in wireless standards and how they were implemented in
placing large number of miniaturized antennas in small various applications.

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 G. Charis and N. Showme

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