A practical beamsteering algorithm with low phase fluctuation for WCDMA/HSUPA uplink using transmit power control bits as feedback

So called open loop transmit diversity algorithms for the uplink of HSPA are a topic of recent studies within the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). These algorithms use the power control commands of the fast power control mechanism as a feedback information to iteratively determine the antenna weights, thus making them compatible with existing networks and procedures. In this paper, a novel practical beamsteering algorithm is presented. Simulations show, that the transmit power at the UE terminal can be reduced by 3.28 dB compared to the reference case of only one transmit antenna, thus improving the UE's battery life. Moreover, the novel algorithm exhibits a significantly lower rate of change of the transmitted signal's absolute phase than the algorithms presented within the 3GPP studies, which means less irritation to the receiver at the Node B.