Patent ID: 7289827

Claim:
A method for operating an antenna in a wireless communications system, the antenna comprising a plurality of antenna elements for generating a plurality of antenna patterns, the method comprising: adjusting weights for the plurality of antenna elements to establish a current antenna pattern; detecting a signal received at each of the plurality of antenna elements in the current antenna pattern; combining the signal received at each of the plurality of antenna elements to produce a combined received signal; determining a signal quality metric for the combined received signal; adjusting the weights for the plurality of antenna elements to establish at least one candidate antenna pattern; repeating the detecting, the combining and the determining each one candidate antenna pattern; comparing the signal quality metric associated with the current antenna pattern to the signal quality metric associated with the at least one candidate antenna pattern for determining a preferred signal quality metric; and adjusting the weights for the plurality of antenna elements associated with the preferred signal quality metric to establish a preferred antenna pattern.