Method and apparatus for an access point in a point to multipoint wireless network

摘要

An access point 1 for use in a point to multipoint wireless network comprises a sector antenna 8 and an antenna array 7. A beamformer 10 forms a beam 11 from signals received at the antenna array. A selector switch 5 is switchable to connect either the beamformer or the sector antenna to a first receiver 2. A scheduler 6 controls the selector switch 5 such that the sector antenna is connected to the first receiver during a first receive timeslot and the beamformer is connected to the first receiver during a second receive timeslot. In one embodiment (Fig. 8) the sector antenna is activated in selected timeslots to enable the detection of radar so that communication carrier frequencies can subsequently be adapted to avoid interference with the radar. In another embodiment (Fig. 7) the invention allows the adaption of the beamformer whilst receiving a desired signal using the sector antenna. There may be a second receiver 3 for receiving signals with an orthogonal polarisation to the first receiver 2.