No. The transmitters calculate signals such that constructive/destructive interference will combine to form a strong, clean signal in the precise location where the device is.
The problem is not the idea, but the word. Most people don't think of constructive phase adjustments as beamforming. It's not wrong, it's just an unfamiliar term.
No, it's not the number of antennas (although there is always more than one), the method relies on the phase (or "time delay") of the signal at each antenna.
I say no because the system relies on multiple antennas, but beyond a few, the advantage evaporates while the workload increases. I wouldn't be surprised if the system limits itself to three well-placed antennas surrounding the target device, just to simplify the calculations.
> The more antennas you have, the cleaner you can keep the beam and minimize constructive interference happening in the wrong places.
Beyond three antennas surrounding a given device, this just isn't true -- more antennas don't produce a proportional increase in performance to compensate for the increased computation workload.
Not for one client device, but it definitely helps when handling lots of clients. The more antennas the fewer spots
with unwanted constructive interference.
The trick is getting that many antennas deployed in an urban area. They also have to be wired, and have reliable
low latency connections to the datacenter.