Even single-antenna mobile devices, such as Wi-Fi phones, will enjoy the benefits of increased range and throughput of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 802.11n by virtue of the transmit diversity capabilities, such as Space Time Block Coding (STBC), Cyclic Shift Diversity (CSD) and Transmit Beamforming.
802.11n is well-equipped to improve the operating range even for single-antenna handheld devices used in such outdoors networks. Increased range of handheld devices is achieved through AP transmit and receive diversity mechanisms. Transmit diversity of APs, including STBC and transmit Beamforming, improves the downlink range performance. Receive diversity of APs, including MRC, reciprocate the transmit diversity and thus maintain the range for both the uplink and the downlink directions.