Elimination of mutual coupling in a conformal adaptive array antenna

The effects produced by the mutual coupling between the elements of an array must be taken into account to improve the reliability of an adaptive process in a real environment. An interpolation technique, between the real and a virtual environment, is used to solve the problem of mutual coupling in a conformal phased array. The real environment disturbed by mutual coupling effects can be obtained from measurements or from an electromagnetics simulation program. The methodology is now illustrated on a hemispherical conformal array. The array can be composed of different types of antenna such as dipoles, horns and microstrip patches.