Experimental study of mutual coupling compensation in smart antenna applications

This paper investigates the benefit of mutual coupling compensation via a method of moments (MoM) approach in a uniform circular antenna array operating at 1.8 GHz. This mutual coupling compensation technique is applied to a direction of arrival (DOA) study of up to two cochannel mobile users. Field measurements and computer simulations are examined to explore the assumptions of the technique and verify its effect when using the Bartlett and MUSIC DOA algorithms. Computer simulations considering the application of the technique to down-link beamforming are also included. Experimental results show that the mutual coupling compensation technique improves up-link DOA algorithm performance primarily by reducing unwanted sidelobe levels. This reduction in sidelobe levels aids in down-link beamforming weight design. Specifically, simulation results show that use of the compensation technique allows DOA-based down-link beamforming algorithms to perform similarly to spatial signature-based algorithms. All field measurements were made using the smart antenna testbed at the University of Texas at Austin