Smart Antenna

What Does Smart Antenna Mean?

A smart antenna is a specific type of digital antenna that has capabilities related to tracking or handling signals. These types of antenna setups are often used in signal processing, radar and telecommunications, and are evaluated by groups like the IEEE.

Smart antennas are also known as adaptive array antennas.

Techopedia Explains Smart Antenna

Smart antennas can be part of systems like reconfigurable broadband and next-generation wireless systems. Solutions like beamforming help to direct signal transmission in specific ways. Two different types of smart antennas, switched beam smart antennas and adaptive array antennas, work in different ways. In general, smart antennas help to specialize signal transmissions for efficiency and other benefits. They "beam" signals in targeted ways, to make the generalized antenna output more precise.

Related Reading

Margaret Rouse

Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.

All Articles by Margaret Rouse