Implementation of a Microstrip Patch Antenna Array and Study of the Effect of Mutual Coupling on Beamforming

In advanced signal transmission applications, specifically in RADAR and wireless communication systems, the efficacy of antenna arrays heavily depends on direction of arrival (DoA) estimation and beamforming techniques. These systems face challenges due to mutual coupling (MC) effects, which compromise overall performance. In this paper, a 1 x 4 microstrip patch antenna array is designed and simulated using Ansys HFSS to operate in the X-band frequency at 8.5 GHz. We compare the accuracy of DoA estimation for signals with and without MC and propose a calibration algorithm to mitigate and compensate for this effect. This approach can be further applied to beamforming using the Least Mean Square (LMS) algorithm. Supporting simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model