Array calibration for CDMA smart antenna systems

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate array calibration algorithms to derive a further improved version for correcting antenna array errors and RF transceiver errors in CDMA smart antenna systems. The structure of a multi-channel RF transceiver with a digital calibration apparatus and its calibration techniques are presented, where we propose a new RF receiver calibration scheme to minimize interference of the calibration signal on the user signals. The calibration signal is injected into a multi-channel receiver through a calibration signal injector whose array response vector is controlled in order to have a low correlation with the antenna response vector of the receive signals. We suggest a model-based antenna array calibration to remove the antenna array errors including mutual coupling errors or to predict the element patterns from the array manifold measured at a small number of angles. Computer simulations and experiment results are shown to verify the calibration algorithms.