An antenna apparatus that can increase capacity in a
wireless communication
system is disclosed. The antenna operates in conjunction with a
station and comprises a plurality of antenna elements, each coupled to a respective
weight control component to provide a weight to the
signal transmitted from (or received by) each element. The weight for each
antenna element is adjusted to achieve optimum reception during, for example, an idle mode when a
pilot signal is received. The
antenna array creates a beam former for signals to be transmitted from the
mobile station, and a directional receiving array to more optimally detect and receive signals transmitted from the
base station. By directionally receiving and transmitting signals, multipath
fading and intercell interference are greatly reduced. The weights are adjusted in a coarse and a fine mode. In the coarse mode all the
weight control components are jointly adjusted or changed so that the antenna beam scans through a predetermined sector of a circle until a
signal quality metric of the received signal is optimized. The coarse adjustment mode is followed by a fine adjustment mode during which the weights of are independently adjusted to further optimize the
signal quality metric.