A Review of Mutual Coupling in MIMO Systems

This paper provides a systematic review of the mutual coupling in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, including effects on performances of MIMO systems and various decoupling techniques. The mutual coupling changes the antenna characteristics in an array and, therefore, degrades the system performance of the MIMO system and causes spectral regrowth. Although the system performance can be partially improved by calibrating out the mutual coupling in the digital domain, it is more effective to use decoupling techniques (from the antenna point) to overcome the mutual coupling effects. Some popular decoupling techniques for MIMO systems (especially for massive MIMO base station antennas) are also presented.