Decoupling Methods for the Mutual Coupling Effect in Antenna Arrays : A Review

Mutual coupling is a common problem in the applications of antenna arrays. It significantly affects the operation of almost all types of antenna arrays. Over the past years, there have been many different kinds of methods suggested to decouple (or to compensate for) the mutual coupling effect in antenna arrays. The effectiveness of these methods varied and depended upon the types of antenna arrays being considered and the applications in which the antenna arrays were used. In this paper, a brief review of the decoupling methods for the mutual coupling effect in antenna arrays is presented. These include patented and non-patented methods. The methods are grouped under seven categories for antenna arrays in communications and four categories for antenna arrays in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The various methods will be first briefly described and their operation principles will be explained. Then some comments on their scopes of application and their comparisons or relations to other methods will be given. The problems associated with these methods will also be analysed. This is the first review on this topic and we believe that it helps to give an overview of the decoupling methods which have been so far proposed in the literature. We also believe that this review will help clarify some main differences and relations between the various decoupling methods and provide some information for future research on the problem of mutual coupling.

[1]  Krishna M. Pasala,et al.  Effects of mutual coupling on the performance of STAP antenna arrays , 2000, IEEE Trans. Aerosp. Electron. Syst..

[2]  H. Steyskal,et al.  Mutual coupling compensation in small array antennas , 1990 .

[3]  T. Itoh,et al.  Smart antennas based on spatial multiplexing of local elements (SMILE) for mutual coupling reduction , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[4]  Yan Wang,et al.  Mutual coupling calibration of DBF array with combined optimization method , 2003 .

[5]  A. Fenn,et al.  Phased array antenna calibration and pattern prediction using mutual coupling measurements , 1989 .

[6]  Hon Tat Hui,et al.  Compensating for the mutual coupling effect in a normal-mode helical antenna array for adaptive ing , 2003, IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol..

[7]  R. Iwata,et al.  Mutual coupling effects in microstrip patch phased array antenna , 1998, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium. 1998 Digest. Antennas: Gateways to the Global Network. Held in conjunction with: USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting (Cat. No.98CH36.

[8]  A. W. Love Comment on "Limitations of the Thevenin and Norton equivalent circuits for a receiving antenna" , 2003 .

[9]  Hao Ling,et al.  Simulation of mutual coupling effect in circular arrays for direction‐finding applications , 2000 .

[10]  M. Sierra-Perez,et al.  Mutual coupling effects correction in microstrip arrays for direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation , 2002 .

[11]  Tah-Hsiung Chu,et al.  Mutual coupling mechanisms within arrays of nonlinear antennas , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility.

[12]  Kapil R. Dandekar,et al.  Experimental study of mutual coupling compensation in smart antenna applications , 2002, IEEE Trans. Wirel. Commun..

[13]  M.C. Leifer Mutual coupling compensation accuracy , 2001, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium. 2001 Digest. Held in conjunction with: USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting (Cat. No.01CH37229).

[14]  Anthony J. Weiss,et al.  Direction finding in the presence of mutual coupling , 1991 .

[15]  Andrew Webb,et al.  Design of a capacitively decoupled transmit/receive NMR phased array for high field microscopy at 14.1T. , 2004, Journal of magnetic resonance.

[16]  P. Roemer,et al.  The NMR phased array , 1990, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[17]  Stuart Crozier,et al.  A New Decoupling Method for Quadrature Coils in Magnetic Resonance Imaging , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[18]  P. Ioannides,et al.  Mutual coupling in adaptive circular arrays , 2004, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Symposium, 2004..

[19]  Rodney G. Vaughan,et al.  Transmitting, receiving, and scattering properties of antennas , 2003 .

[20]  E. Jordan,et al.  Electromagnetic Waves and Radiating Systems , 1951 .

[21]  Hendrik Rogier,et al.  Analytical spherical-mode-based compensation of mutual coupling in uniform circular arrays for direction-of-arrival estimation , 2006 .

[22]  T.T. Zhang,et al.  Antenna Designer's Notebook - Receiving mutual impedance between two normal-mode helical antennas (NMHAs) , 2006, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine.

[23]  Roger F. Harrington,et al.  Field computation by moment methods , 1968 .

[24]  T. Sarkar,et al.  Minimum norm mutual coupling compensation with applications in direction of arrival estimation , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[25]  Yongxi Qian,et al.  A uniplanar quasi-Yagi antenna with wide bandwidth and low mutual coupling characteristics , 1999, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium. 1999 Digest. Held in conjunction with: USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting (Cat. No.99CH37010).

[26]  David M. Pozar,et al.  Correction of error in reduced sidelobe synthesis due to mutual coupling , 1985 .

[27]  Geoffrey S Hilton,et al.  Mutual coupling compensation in small planar array antennas , 1998 .

[28]  Ching-Chuan Su On the equivalent generator voltage and generator internal impedance for receiving antennas , 2003 .

[29]  Theodoros Samaras,et al.  Antenna array design by the orthogonal method in conjunction with element patterns , 2006 .

[30]  T. Sarkar,et al.  Compensation for the effects of mutual coupling on direct data domain adaptive algorithms , 2000 .

[31]  Michael A. Jensen,et al.  Mutual coupling in MIMO wireless systems: a rigorous network theory analysis , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.

[32]  R. E. Collin,et al.  Limitations of the Thevenin and Norton equivalent circuits for a receiving antenna , 2003 .

[33]  Hon Tat Hui A practical approach to compensate for the mutual coupling effect in an adaptive dipole array , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[34]  C. Yeh,et al.  Bearing estimations with mutual coupling present , 1989 .

[35]  Hao Ling,et al.  On modeling mutual coupling in antenna arrays using the coupling matrix , 2001 .

[36]  Hon Tat Hui,et al.  An effective compensation method for the mutual coupling effect in phased arrays for magnetic resonance imaging , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[37]  A. W. Love Comment on the equivalent circuit of a receiving antenna , 2002 .

[38]  I. Gupta,et al.  Effect of mutual coupling on the performance of adaptive arrays , 1983 .

[39]  M.E. Bialkowski,et al.  Effect of mutual coupling on the interference rejection capabilities of linear and circular arrays in CDMA systems , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[40]  J. Van Bladel On the equivalent circuit of a receiving antenna , 2002 .

[41]  H.T. Hui,et al.  Receiving Mutual Impedance between Two Parallel Dipole Antennas , 2006, TENCON 2006 - 2006 IEEE Region 10 Conference.

[42]  Kun-Chou Lee,et al.  A SIMPLIFIED MODEL FOR THE MUTUAL COUPLING EFFECTS OF ADAPTIVE ANTENNA ARRAYS , 2003 .

[43]  J.E. Fernandez del Rio,et al.  Estimating azimuth and elevation angles when mutual coupling is significant [direction finding] , 1998, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium. 1998 Digest. Antennas: Gateways to the Global Network. Held in conjunction with: USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting (Cat. No.98CH36.

[44]  A. Nix,et al.  Mutual coupling in multi-element array antennas and its influence on MIMO channel capacity , 2003 .

[45]  K. W. Lo,et al.  Simple S-parameter model for receiving antenna array , 1988 .

[46]  W. Wasylkiwskyj,et al.  Comparison of mutual coupling of blade antennas with predictions based on minimum-scattering antenna theory , 2000 .

[47]  Ray F. Lee,et al.  Coupling and decoupling theory and its application to the MRI phased array , 2002, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[48]  Xin Li,et al.  Mutual coupling effects on the performance of MIMO wireless channels , 2004 .

[49]  B. Himed,et al.  Compensation for mutual coupling effects in direction finding , 1990, International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing.

[50]  K. Hirasawa,et al.  The mutual coupling and diffraction effects on the performance of a CMA adaptive array , 1998 .

[51]  Tong Tong Zhang,et al.  Compensation for the mutual coupling effect in the ESPRIT direction finding algorithm by using a more effective method , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[52]  B. Himed,et al.  Compensation of mutual coupling for the ESPRIT algorithm , 1989, Digest on Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium.

[53]  P. Boesiger,et al.  SENSE: Sensitivity encoding for fast MRI , 1999, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[54]  Warren L. Stutzman,et al.  Array antenna pattern modeling methods that include mutual coupling effects , 1993 .

[55]  E. Friel,et al.  Mutual coupling effects and their reduction in wideband direction of arrival estimation , 1994 .

[56]  Tah-Hsiung Chu,et al.  A circuit model for mutual coupling analysis of a finite antenna array , 1996 .

[57]  Hui A new definition of mutual impedance for application in dipole receiving antenna arrays , 2004, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.

[58]  Guanghan Xu,et al.  Effect of mutual coupling on direction finding in smart antenna applications , 2000 .

[59]  M. S. Palma,et al.  Adaptive processing using a single snapshot for a nonuniformly spaced array in the presence of mutual coupling and near-field scatterers , 2002 .

[60]  H. Hui,et al.  Compensating for the mutual coupling effect in direction finding based on a new calculation method for mutual impedance , 2003, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.