OTA Experiments on Improved Angular Accuracy
Reactively Loaded 32 × 32 MIMO/AOA Antenna
Nana Narukawa and Koichi Ogawa
Graduate School of Engineering, Toyama University
3190 Gofuku, Toyama-shi, Toyama, 930-8555 Japan
P#HPVXWR\DPDDFMS
Abstract— We are currently developing a 32 × 32 MIMO
beam steering array, aiming at establishing an over-10 Gbps
transmission rate. Angle of arrival (AOA) function is embedded
into the array, enabling the radiation beam of the MIMO
antenna to be directed precisely to incoming waves. There is a
certain difficulty in terms of achieving the AOA antenna with a
high accuracy because the AOA antenna is surrounded by a
number of MIMO subarrays, which results in a strong
electromagnetic mutual coupling. In this paper, an OTA
experiment is carried out to confirm a method of reducing the
EM coupling by means of controlling reactance loading. A
significant reduction in the estimated error is confirmed by the
reactance loading in a Rician propagation environment.
Keywords— Angle of Arrival; OTA testing; 32×32 MIMO;
Circular phased array; Connected car
I. INTRODUCTION
In our ongoing project, we are developing new technologies
to realize a 32 × 32 MIMO antenna for use in connected car
applications [1]. The 32 × 32 MIMO attains a channel capacity
of over 10 Gbps, equivalent to 100 bits/s/Hz with a 100-MHz
bandwidth, by utilizing 32 independent streaming channels. Its
spatial beam steering capability provides a full transmission
rate over all azimuth angles.
The angle of arrival (AOA) estimation must be embedded
into the phased array, so that the MIMO system is fully capable
of accomplishing the beam steering functions. An
interferometric monopulse technique is employed to extract the
bearing information because of its simplicity. The theoretical
investigation presented in [2] indicates that the AOA antenna
has high measurement accuracy for extracting the bearing
information about the AOA of an incident wave when the
antenna is located in a free space environment.
However, with regard to the antenna system proposed in
this study, the AOA antenna is surrounded by a large number
of MIMO subarrays within close proximity. Hence, one of the
most challenging issues in the development of the system is the
mitigation of phase perturbation due to the electromagnetic
coupling between the AOA antenna and the surrounding
MIMO subarray elements.
The radiation pattern shaping using a circular array antenna
with a dipole radiating element and parasitic elements placed
around the radiator was studied in [3] and [4]. The results show
that a variety of radiation patterns can be created by changing
the value of reactive components loaded on the parasitic
‹,(((
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elements. In these articles, the effects of the variable reactance
are studied only in terms of controlling the amplitude of
radiation fields.
In contrast, in a theoretical approach, we suggest that it is
possible to mitigate the phase perturbation of an AOA antenna
arising from electromagnetic couplings by optimizing the
reactive loads [5]. The results show that the improved angular
accuracy can be achieved using the AOA antenna with
reactance loading.
In this paper, an Over-The-Air (OTA) experiment is carried
out to confirm the method of reducing the EM coupling by
means of controlling reactance loading, presented in [5]. A
significant reduction in the estimated error is confirmed in a
Rician propagation environment with a K-factor of 10 dB.
A brief explanation of the configuration of the whole
antenna system is given, followed by the experimental results
on an OTA testing. Detailed descriptions and performance of
the 32 × 32 MIMO antenna are provided in a separate paper [1].
II. 32×32 MIMO BEAM STEERING ARRAY ANTENNA WITH
AOA FUNCTION
Fig. 1 shows the whole structure of the 32 × 32 MIMO
antenna system with AOA estimation function. The 4 × 4
MIMO phased array antenna is used as a component module to
form the 32 subarrays of the 32 × 32 MIMO antenna, arranged
in a circle with a radius r and equal angular intervals of 45°.
The AOA antenna is located at the center of the MIMO
antenna system, and has the same structure as the 4 × 4 MIMO
antenna. Its operational principle is provided in detail in [6].
Four pairs of the eight elements in the 4 × 4 MIMO antenna
form four subarrays. These subarrays create four independent
radiation patterns, each of which acts as a subchannel for the
MIMO array by enabling an excitation of the four subarrays
that achieves an in-phase state towards the target direction of
communication. Thus, the peak gain of the beam is larger than
that of an ordinary dipole antenna, which results in a large SNR.
Another unique feature of the proposed MIMO antenna is
the realization of low correlation. When an incident wave with
a narrow angular power spectrum (APS) arrives from the right
side of the figure, the four subarrays are arranged perpendicular
to the incident wave, resulting in a smaller correlation, which is
beneficial for the enhancement of the MIMO channel capacity,
together with the creation of a large SNR due to the four
subarrays.
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 Subarray 9-12 Fig. 2 shows the estimated angle Im as a function of the
ZL = R + jX angle of an incident wave I. From Fig. 2, we define the error of
Subarray 13-16 Subarray 5-8 the estimated angle as 'I = Im I. It is found from Fig. 2 that
when ZL = (0, 0) and ZL = (0, 500 :) the maximum absolute
4㽢4 MIMO Array value of the error of the estimated angle |'I| is 55° and 13°,
ZL ZL respectively. In contrast, when ZL = (0, 326 :), the estimated
angle is proportional to I. Consequently, the error of the
Subarray 17-20 AOA Antenna Subarray 1-4 estimated angle is less than 0.2 degrees in this case.

ZL III. OTA EXPERIMENTS

ZL
r In this section, we describe a method of loading reactive
Subarray 21-24 Subarray 29-32 impedances on a dipole antenna and experimental results of an
OTA testing.
Subarray 25-28
ZL ZL A. Signal Processing Network for AOA Estimation
Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the network used for
ZL estimating the AOA that processes the received signals. Fig. 4
Fig. 1 32㽢32 MIMO beam steering array antenna depicts a fabricated microwave circuit using a double-sided
with the function of AOA estimation printed circuit board (an FR4-based PCB) with a thickness of 1
mm and a relative permittivity of 4.2.
As the eight elements of the 4 × 4 MIMO antenna form a In Fig. 4, the phase of the received signals for each element
circular arrangement with a 45° interval, the subarrays can is delayed in accordance with the phase value depicted in Fig. 3,
rotate every 45° in the azimuth plane. Therefore, when an using the differing lengths of microstrip transmission lines. The
automobile turns right or left at an intersection, which results in frequency for the design is 2 GHz. The use of a 180° rat-race
a situation where an incident wave arrives from other azimuth hybrid in Fig. 4 allows a 180° phase reversal to be involved in
angles, we can select other appropriate combinations among the two signals combined by the three Wilkinson power
the possible combinations of subarrays. This function is also combiners located on the right and left side of Fig 4, enabling a
effective in the 32 × 32 MIMO beam steering array antenna by small-sized AOA network to be realized.
performing synchronized switching of all the 32 subarray
beams. This unique feature allows the SNR of the 32 subarray #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
beams to be large, and simultaneously, the correlation to be
S 3S 5S 7S S 3S 5S 7S
small, which maintains the channel capacity at a high bit rate 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
condition, even with the considerable dynamic motion of the
car [1].
Power Combiner Power Combiner
In order to utilize the rotational feature of the array
mentioned above, the AOA estimation capability must be 180q Hybrid
integrated into the system for obtaining the bearing information E ' E:
of the radio waves impinging on the MIMO antenna. As shown Phase comparator
in Fig. 1, the AOA antenna is surrounded by the MIMO
subarrays, which cause a strong electromagnetic coupling,
resulting in a degradation of the estimated angle accuracy. Im ‘E'  ‘E:
Fig. 3 Signal processing circuit for AOA estimation
360
X= 0 :
330
X= 326 :
300 X= 500 :
#7 #8
#1 #2
Estimated Angle [deg]

270
240
E'
210
180
150
120
90
60
30
0
#6 #5
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 #4 #3
Angle of Incident Wave [deg]
Fig. 2 Estimated angle vs. angle of incident wave Fig. 4 Fabricated AOA network

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 B. A Method of Loading Reactance
Fig. 5 shows a method of loading reactance on a dipole
antenna comprising MIMO subarray elements illustrated in Fig.
1. Now, we consider the case where the impedance Z3 = jX3 is
loaded on a half-wavelength dipole antenna, as shown in Fig.
5(a). To realize the impedance Z3 = jX3, a semi-rigid cable with
an open-circuited terminal is connected to the input of a Sleeve
dipole antenna, as shown in Fig. 5(b). The procedure for
making the reactance is described specifically, as shown below.
Z1 jX1
Sleeve dipole
antenna
feed point
where Z0 indicates the characteristic impedance of the semi-
rigid cable. Fig. 6 shows a photograph of the fabricated
reactance load using semi-rigid cables with a diameter of 2.19
mm, together with that of a Sleeve dipole antenna at 2 GHz.
Fig. 7 shows the reactance as a function of the length of a
semi-rigid cable. In Fig. 7, the blue curve exhibits the results
calculated by Eq. (2) and the red curve represents the measured
results using a network analyzer. They are in good agreement
with each other. When the reactance changes in the amount of
Z2 jX 2
r40 : the estimated angle error is less than 6°. Hence, we
fabricated the semi-rigid cables, aiming at establishing the
Target value reactance of X r40 : . The allowable error in length of a
T2 kl2 Z3 jX 3 semi-rigid cable is found to be r0.35 mm , as shown in Fig. 7.

open
O /2 jX 3 T1 kl1 Calculated
Measured
T3 kl3

SMA X r40:
connector
Semi-rigid 'I r6[deg]

X [:]
cable

open open open

(a) Dipole antenna (b) Reactance load 'l 0.7 mm
Fig. 5 A method of loading reactance r0.35mm

Sleeve dipole Z1 jX1 Z2 jX 2

antenna
Fig. 7 Reactance as a function of the length of a semi-rigid cable

Z3 jX 3 T2 kl2

X = 326 㼼 40 :

T1 kl1
P = 313 :
T3 kl3

Reactance
load
V = 25 :

Fig. 6 Fabricated reactance load

Firstly, an arbitrary length of a semi-rigid cable with an

electrical length of kl1 is fabricated, where k represents the
wavenumber k = 2S / Og (Og indicates the wavelength in the
semi-rigid cable). To extract the phase between the feed point
and the open-circuited terminal, a semi-rigid cable with an
electrical length of kl2 is prepared, where the input impedance
seeing from the SMA connector is Z2 = jX2, as shown in Fig. 5.
Using these two semi-rigid cables with electrical lengths of
kl1 and kl2, we can obtain a semi-rigid cable with an electrical
length of kl3 that achieves the impedance Z3 = jX3 seeing from
the feed point of the Sleeve antenna. The electrical length of kl3
is given by the following equation.
kl3 kl1  kl2
The reactance X3 is calculated by the following equation.
X3  Z 0 cot kl3
X [:]
Fig. 8 Probability distribution of fabricated reactance loads
Fig. 8 shows the histogram and the Gaussian probability
density function (PDF) of reactance loads. We fabricated 72
reactance loads used for connecting them to all the dipole
antennas comprising the MIMO subarrays, as illustrated in Fig.
1. The experimental histogram is in good agreement with the
theoretical Gaussian PDF, shown by the red curve.
The average value P and standard deviation V derived from
the Gaussian PDF are found to be P = 313 : and V = 25 :. As
(1) can be seen from Fig. 8, judging from the fact that the
probability distribution is sufficiently confined within the target
value of X 326 r 40 : , we conclude that the fabricated
reactance can be used for performing the experimental
(2) verification of the proposed method.

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 C. Experimental Results
We carried out an experiment on the angular accuracy of
the AOA antenna using a two-dimensional fading emulator that
constructs a Rician propagation environment. Fig. 9 shows an
experimental setup of the proposed antenna. 14 scatterers are
arranged on a circle with a radius of 1.2 m at a regular interval
to emulate scattered fields. A single Sleeve dipole antenna is
located on the circle to represent a direct or stationary wave.
The frequency for the experiment was 2 GHz.
AOA Antenna
Reactance Load
32㽢32MIMO Subarray
Fig. 9 Experimental setup of the proposed antenna
360
300
Estimated Angle [deg]
240
ideal
180
120
32㽢32 ZL = j326 :K = 10 dB)
60
32㽢32 ZL = j0 :K = 10 dB)
4㽢4 Anechoic Chamber)
0 REFERENCES
0 60 120 180 240 300
Angle of Incident Wave [deg]
Fig. 10 Measured estimated angle vs. angle of incident wave
The emulator was developed to represent a Rician
propagation environment, in which a variety of K-factor can be
realized using attenuators by setting the ratio between the
power of a direct wave and that of scattered waves.
Fig. 10 shows the measured estimated angle as a function
of the angle of an incident wave. The red solid and black
broken curves indicate the estimated angle of the 32 × 32
MIMO/AOA antenna, with ZL 㸻 j326 : and ZL 㸻 j0 :,
respectively, and with K = 10 dB. The blue broken curve
shows the estimated angle of the 4 × 4 MIMO/AOA antenna
measured in an anechoic chamber. The green broken curve
indicates the ideal estimated angle.
Fig. 10 reveals that, when we consider the black broken
curve with ZL 㸻 j0 :, the maximum absolute value of the error
of the estimated angle |'I| is 70°, which is in good agreement
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with the calculated value of 55°, as denoted in Fig. 2. This is
strong evidence to support the validity of the theoretical
investigations, mentioned in Sec. II.
Most importantly, Fig. 10 suggests that the red solid and
blue broken curves for the 32 × 32 and 4 × 4 MIMO/AOA
antennas demonstrate similar fluctuations with respect to the
green broken curve for the ideal estimated angle. This
observation means that the estimated angle error caused by the
EM coupling between the AOA antenna and MIMO subarray
elements is reduced in an effective way using the load
impedance of ZL 㸻 j326 :.
The reason for this angle error reduction mentioned above
can be justified by the fact that the blue broken curve for the 4
× 4 MIMO/AOA antenna shows the results measured in an
anechoic chamber, and consequently it does not include the
angular error arising from the phase perturbation in a Rician
multipath environment. The residual angle error in the 4 × 4
MIMO/AOA antenna is partly due to electromagnetic
couplings between the antenna and the AOA network, and
partly due to phase variations of the network, caused by the
deviation from the target design values due to a lack of
accuracy of a milling machine that fabricates the network.
Judging from the experimental investigations mentioned
above, we conclude that the proposed method of controlling
reactance loads is valid and effective for reducing the estimated
angle error caused by the EM coupling between the AOA
antenna and MIMO subarrays.
IV. CONCLUSION
In this paper, we present an OTA experiment on the AOA
antenna to confirm a method of reducing the EM coupling by
means of controlling reactance loads. A significant reduction in
the estimated error is confirmed by the reactance loading in a
Rician propagation environment with a K-factor of 10 dB. This
research and development work was supported by the
MIC/SCOPE #175005001.
360
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Symposium on Electromagnetic Theory (EMTS 2019, San Diego, USA), Session
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Sweden), Session 64 Measurement Methods and Systems - II, pp.1-4, Sep. 2018.
[6] K. Honda, D. Iwamoto, and K. Ogawa: "Angle of Arrival Estimation Embedded in
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Conference (APMC2017, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), pp. 93-96, Nov. 2017.
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