Mutual Coupling in Holographic MIMO: Physical Modeling and Information-Theoretic Analysis

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive framework for holographic multiantenna communication, a paradigm that integrates both wide apertures and closely spaced antennas relative to the wavelength. The presented framework is physically grounded, enabling information-theoretic analyses that inherently incorporate correlation and mutual coupling among the antennas. This establishes the combined effects of correlation and coupling on the information-theoretic performance limits across SNR levels. Additionally, it reveals that, by suitably selecting the individual antenna patterns, mutual coupling can be harnessed to either reinforce or counter spatial correlations as appropriate for specific SNRs, thereby improving the performance.