A survey of the application of the spherical vector wave mode expansion approach to antenna-channel interaction modeling

This paper provides an overview of recent advances in the modeling, analysis, and measurements of interactions between antennas and the propagation channel in multiple antenna systems based on the spherical vector wave mode expansion of the electromagnetic field and the antenna scattering matrix. It demonstrates the importance and usefulness of this approach to gain further insights into a variety of topics such as physics-based propagation channel modeling, mean effective gain, channel correlation, propagation channel measurements, antenna measurements and testing, the number of degrees of freedom of the radio propagation channel, channel throughput, and diversity systems. The paper puts particular emphasis on the unified approach to antenna-channel analysis at the same time as the antenna and the channel influence are separated. Finally, the paper provides the first bibliography on the application of the spherical vector wave mode expansion of the electromagnetic field to antenna-channel interactions.