Mechanisms for selecting a set of antennas for use in a wireless communication
system are disclosed. The selected set of antennas is for use in communicating
data in a wireless local area network (WLAN) comprising an access point and a plurality
of mobile stations. The access point includes a baseband chip capable of adapting
various radio frequency (RF) units. Each RF unit in turns includes a plurality
of RF sub units, each of which connects to a plurality of antennas. The access
point thus includes a number of antennas that, together with the RF units and the
baseband chip, form a smart antenna. To identify the selected set of antennas to
communicate with a particular mobile station, the access point initially uses a
first set of antennas each in a RF sub unit. From this first set of antennas, the
access point identifies a first set of winner antennas and a first set of non-winner
antennas. From the first set of winner antennas, the access point identifies a
first set of winner RF sub units each connecting to a winner antenna in the first
set of winner antennas. From each winner RF sub unit, the access point identifies
a final winner. The access point then uses the final winner antenna in the selected
set of antennas. The access point also uses the first set of non-winner antennas
in the selected set of antennas.