The SA API is largely complete, and the Smart Antenna Work Group plans to promote this document to the SDR Forum for balloting later this year. Once this ballot is complete, the SA API will be an approved SDR Forum specification available for use by the larger community. In addition, the SDR Forum intends to submit the approved SA API to the Object Management Group (OMG) for standardization through its processin response to a request for proposal issue by the OMG's Software-Based Communications Domain Task Force (SBC-DTF)[6] The SDR Forum, in support of its members, has been closely collaborating with the SBC-DTF so that the results of this work can provide a standard architecture of a smart antenna base station system operating in SDR to the broader community.

In this article, the SA API for an SDR system is introduced. The proposed SA API provides flexibility, portability, interoperability, and compatibility for the smart antenna systems to operate in the SDR network. It is noteworthy that the SA API not only creates COTS market but also lowers development costs of the SA systems. In addition, non-smart antenna systems can easily be converted to smart antenna systems with the proposed SA API.

1. J.H. Reed, “Smart Antennas: A System Level Overview for Software Defined Radios for Creating an API,” SDR Forum Input Document SDRF-04-I-0057-V0.00, June 2004.

2. L. Pucker, “Finding MIMO: A Proposed Model for Incorporating Multiple Input, Multiple Output Technology Into Software Defined Radios,” Proceedings of the SDR Forum SDR '05 Technical Conference, November 2005.

3. IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee, “IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks, Part 16: Air Interface for Fixed Broadband Wireless Access Systems,” http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/download/802.16-2004.pdf.

4. S. Choi and J. H. Reed, “Factors to Consider in Creating a Smart Antenna API,” SDR Forum Input Document SDRF-04-I-0060-V0.00, June 2004.

5. PIM and PSM for Software Radio Components, dtc/2005-09-05, OMG Software Base Communication Task Force.

6. Mark Scoville, “Suggested Tasking on the OMG PIM and PSM for Smart Antenna Request for Proposal,” SDR Forum Document Number SDRF-07-A-0001-V0.00.

Seungheon Hyeon is a graduate student pursuing a doctoral degree in HY-SDR research center, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.

June Kim is a graduate student pursuing a master's degree in HY-SDR research center, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.

Seungwon Choi is a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Hanyang University. He is the director of HY-SDR research center. Since 2003, Choi has been serving as a vice chair for SDR Forum. His research interests include digital communications and adaptive signal processing with a recent focus on the SDR technology for the smart antenna systems.

Lee Pucker is the chief technology officer of the SDR Forum. Pucker has more than 20 years of experience in wireless communications and signal-processing technologies and holds a BSEE from the University of Illinois, and an MSc from The Johns Hopkins University.

Bruce Fette is chief scientist of the Communications Networking Division of General Dynamics C4 Systems in Scottsdale, Ariz. Fette has been with General Dynamics for 37 years and holds 36 patents. He received his BSEE from the University of Cincinnati; MSEE and Ph.D from Arizona State University. Fette has worked with the SDR Forum from its inception and currently serves as the technical committee chair.

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