A Four-Element Linear Dielectric Resonator Antenna Array for Beamforming Applications With Compensation of Mutual Coupling

Abstract

A four-element linear dielectric resonator antenna array for beamforming applications with mutual coupling compensation is proposed for long term evolution band 40 (2.3 GHz). The effect of mutual coupling on the array beamforming pattern has been studied for the inter-element spacing of $0.32\lambda $ (wavelength), when the main beam is scanned in targeted directions with nulls placed toward unintended directions. Two mutual compensation methods, such as open-circuit voltage method and linear pattern correction method, are applied to compute mutual coupling matrices, which have been used to compute the compensated (coupling free) array elements weights to give the desired beamforming patterns. By applying the compensated complex feed coefficients, the various corrected beamforming patterns have been presented. It has been shown that the array element complex weights computed using the linear pattern correction method is more effective in compensating the effects of mutual coupling than open-circuit voltage method.

Keywords

• Dielectric resonator antenna
• mutual coupling
• active element pattern
• coupling matrix
• LTE