Beamforming is a signal processing technique used to optimize the radiation pattern of an antenna array to focus the transmitted energy in the desired direction. This is accomplished by weighting the signal from each individual antenna in the array according to its relative position so that the signals combine constructively in the desired direction and destructively in other directions. The main benefit of beamforming is that it can increase the directivity of an antenna array, which can improve communication range and signal strength. Beamforming can be used for both transmitting and receiving antennas and can be implemented using analog or digital methods. When used for transmitting, beamforming can help to reduce interference from other sources and improve communication range. When used for receiving, beamforming can be used to null out interfering signals and improve the signal-to-noise ratio. Beamforming can also be combined with other techniques, such as smart antennas, to further improve performance.