Compensation of mutual coupling for the ESPRIT algorithm

The ESPRIT algorithm has been shown to be an effective approach to the angle-of-arrival estimation problem. The approach requires a sensor array consisting of pairs of sensors having identical beam patterns. In practice, identical beam patterns are difficult to achieve because of the significant mutual coupling that exists when two sensors are put in close proximity. The authors discuss a technique for compensating for the effects of the mutual coupling. The method of moments is used to obtain the matrix of mutuals for each sensor pair. A transformation matrix is developed, and it processes the observed data so as to estimate the signals that would have resulted had there been no mutuals. It is shown that ideally the effects of mutual coupling can be completely eliminated. Computer simulations demonstrating the improved performance are presented.<>