A Beamspace-Time Blind RAKE Receiver for Sectored CDMA Systems

A beamspace-time (BT) RAKE receiver is proposed for multiple accessinterference (MAI) suppression and multipath diversity reception insectored wireless CDMA communications. The scheme involves three stages.First, a set of adaptive beamformers encompassing a prescribed angular sectoris constructed on an antenna array, each providing effective suppression ofout-of-sector MAI and reception of in-sector signal. Second, a set of adaptivecorrelators is attached to each beam to combat in-sector MAI. Finally, thebeamspace correlator output data are combined to capture the signal multipathscoherently.The above three-stage operation is performed in a blind mode inthat no training signal is needed. The only information required is the signature,timing and a rough estimate of the angle of arrival (AOA) of the desired signal.