Effects of introducing adaptive antennas into existing GSM networks

The present paper deals with the capacity gain which can be obtained by introducing adaptive antennas in GSM networks. In contrast to other studies, the results presented here are based on calculations considering a real existing GSM network with a strongly heterogeneous cell structure. Furthermore, the calculations take into account different real antenna patterns, real site data, as well as different values of the percentage of cells equipped with adaptive antennas. The capacity gain is evaluated using a modified version of Mannesmann Mobilfunk's planning tool taking into account the interference reduction effects caused by adaptive antennas.