Patent ID: 7385914

Claim:
An apparatus for multiple antenna transmitter beamforming M digital output OFDM signals (“M signals”) each including sub-carrier data in N frequency bins in a wideband wireless packetized communication network, wherein the M signals are each adapted for transmission onto different communication channels, and wherein each of the M signals are obtained from a same single digital signal, wherein N is a positive integer greater than 1, the apparatus comprising: a transmit beamformer adapted to phase steer and weight the sub-carrier data in each of the N frequency bins for each of the M signals, thereby generating phase steered and weighted frequency data for each of the M signals, wherein the transmit beamformer includes: a weight calculator adapted to calculate M complex weights for each of the N frequency bins based on channel estimates of the different communication channels; and a weighting block adapted to apply the M complex weights to the sub-carrier data corresponding to each of the N frequency bins for each of the M signals to obtain the phase steered and weighted frequency data for each of the M signals, wherein at least some of the M complex weights are normalized to satisfy an Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) limit and a per-chain power limit; and M Inverse Fast Fourier Transform units (IFFTs) that are each adapted to input the phase steered and weighted frequency data for one of the M signals and each convert the phase steered and weighted frequency data corresponding to that one M signal to obtain that one M signal, wherein M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, such that the M signals are adapted to shape a distinct array antenna pattern.