Neural Networks in Smart Antenna Design for Co-channel Interference (CCI) Reduction: A Review

In mobile radio environment, the co-channel interference (CCI) resulting from frequency reuse is the main cause of call drops, unnecessary handoffs, compromising voice quality and channel capacity reduction. CCI is one of the most significant factors limiting the capacity and scalability of wireless networks. Various techniques such as power control, antenna down tilting, cell sectoring and multiple antennas have been in use for combating CCI. Smart antenna techniques which use antenna arrays with signal processing offer significant increase in throughput, signal range, interference reduction and system capacity improvements. Neural networks , once trained and validated, are not only capable of performing computationally complex signal processing but also can track sources in real time and are nonlinear in nature. These characteristics make them suitable for smart antenna design. In this review a study of neural network techniques applicable for smart antenna design and CCI reduction is presented.