Mutual coupling compensation in receiving arrays and its implementation on software defined radios

Abstract

Mutual coupling is compensated in a four element uniform linear receiving array using software defined radios. Direction of arrival (DoA) is estimated in real-time for the array with spacing d=lambda/4. The decoupling matrix was measured using a VNA for only one incident angle. After compensation the error in DoA estimation was reduced to 5%. Comparing the DoA results with d=lambda/2 spaced Uniform Linear Array (ULA), 1.2% error was observed. Although, the experiment was performed indoors with a low SNR, the results show a substantial improvement in the estimated DoA after compensation.