Beamforming
lastmod 2024-11-07created 2023-07-283 edits
In wireless communication, beamforming (also called spatial filtering) is a type of smart antenna technique that concentrates an antenna's beam on a specific terminal (receiving device). A smart antenna can be implemented with multiple antennas to increase efficiency. When multiple antennas are implemented on both the transmitter and the receiver, it is called MIMO.
In general, beamforming refers to an effect like shining a spotlight on an actor on stage. Light corresponds to high-frequency signals among radio waves. The higher the frequency of a radio wave, the stronger its straightness, so for high-frequency signals like light, signal transmission consumes a lot of energy unless they are concentrated in one direction.
About
Beamforming is a smart antenna technology that concentrates an antenna's beam in a specific direction (toward a terminal). It was adopted in the 802.11ac standard and is used as a way to reduce indiscriminate signal transmission and improve coverage on output-limited equipment.
It is implemented using multiple antennas: it acquires direction information for a specific channel and varies the signal between antennas so that directional radio waves are transmitted in a specific direction. For that reason, the transmitting device must support MIMO to use this technology, and efficiency increases with the number of transmitter (Tx) antennas.
The number of antennas mounted on a router does not necessarily match the number of 802.11ac transmitter (Tx) antennas.