Beamforming in Wireless Communication Standards: A Survey

Background/Objectives: In this paper, we have analyzed the beamforming technology and surveyed the beamforming methods used over the years in various wireless applications and how it can be improved to be implemented in future technologies. Methods/Statistical Analysis: Beamforming plays an important role in pointing an antenna to the signal source and thereby reducing interference and improving signal quality. The importance of the technology and how each standard has benefited from it has been identified. We have then provided a review of the research going into this field on how the application of the technology can be employed in the future standards to provide a better user experience. Findings: At higher frequencies, more antennas can be packed into the same physical area. The implementation of hybrid beamforming technologies in large antenna arrays in these frequencies has yielded good performance. Advanced hybrid beamforming algorithm uses both analog and digital beamforming methods and not only offers highly directional beam to overcome propagation loss, but also advanced digital domain processing such as multi beam MIMO with lesser complexity. Applications: Use of millimeter wave band for future technologies can result in the adoption of various beamforming methods in a large scale in various wireless applications.