Diagnosis of Antenna Array with Undefined Mutual Coupling via Optimization

Failure of element (s) in Antenna array degrades the performance of the radiation pattern, and consequently affect mobile communication systems. Hence, diagnosis of antenna array is an important operation whenever element (s) failure in the array occur. There are various diagnostic techniques found in literature that employ compressive sensing. Conversely, the techniques are based on easy formulation of array factor with no incorporation of mutual coupling existing between the radiators. This article shows how this deficiency lead to defective and bad diagnosis when there is presence of mutual coupling using port-level coupling matrix and average embedded antenna pattern. Furthermore, the element excitations are optimized to reduce the effect of mutual coherence of system measurement matrix, causing reduced measurements required for effective fault detection. Numerical simulation and experimental results demonstrate how the incorporation of mutual coupling generates an adequate and reliable array diagnosis. Finally, the implementation of the proposed framework via measurement probe in space shows motivating results for its practical applications.