  Multi-mode antennas are an alternative to classical antenna arrays, and hence
a promising emerging sensor technology for a vast variety of applications in
the areas of array signal processing and digital communications. An unsolved
problem is to describe the radiation pattern of multi-mode antennas in closed
analytic form based on calibration measurements or on electromagnetic field
(EMF) simulation data. As a solution, we investigate two modeling methods: One
is based on the array interpolation technique (AIT), the other one on wavefield
modeling (WM). Both methods are able to accurately interpolate quantized EMF
data of a given multi-mode antenna, in our case a planar four-port antenna
developed for the 6-8.5 GHz range. Since the modeling methods inherently depend
on parameter sets, we investigate the influence of the parameter choice on the
accuracy of both models. Furthermore, we evaluate the impact of modeling errors
for coherent maximum-likelihood direction-of-arrival (DoA) estimation given
different model parameters. Numerical results are presented for a single
polarization component. Simulations reveal that the estimation bias introduced
by model errors is subject to the chosen model parameters. Finally, we provide
optimized sets of AIT and WM parameters for the multi-mode antenna under
investigation. With these parameter sets, EMF data samples can be reproduced in
interpolated form with high angular resolution.
