Smart antenna array calibration procedure including amplitude and phase mismatch and mutual coupling effects

This paper presents a procedure used to calibrate a smart antenna array to compensate for channel amplitude and phase mismatch as well as mutual coupling effects between antenna array elements. A theoretical basis for this calibration procedure in terms of the smart antenna mathematical model is given. Direction of arrival (DOA) analysis of data collected using the Smart Antenna Testbed at the University of Texas at Austin is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of this calibration procedure and quantify the improvement in system performance. It is shown that amplitude and phase mismatch effects have a much stronger impact on overall system performance compared to mutual coupling between array elements.