Differential beamforming using Rotman lens for wireless sensor networks

Abstract

In this article, an optimal beamforming technique using a low cost intelligent Rotman lens antenna is proposed. The proposed technique enjoys full diversity with high coding gain, has a very low encoding and decoding complexity, and does not require channel knowledge at any transmitting or receiving antenna. From our simulation results, the proposed technique outperforms the best known non-coherent multi-antenna techniques. Furthermore, we prove that the BER expressions obtained from the theoretical analysis enjoy full diversity gain and match our conducted simulations.

Keywords

• Smart antenna
• Rotman lens antenna
• Multi-antenna systems
• Wireless sensor networks
• Cooperative diversity techniques
• Beamforming techniques