Receiving Performance Enhancement of Active GPS Antenna with Periodic Structure

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to design the high gain active GPS antenna module and analyze the performance improvement implemented with periodic structure. Since the utilization of high-impedance surface of periodic structures as reflector not only significantly reduces the antenna profile with phase enhancement, but it will also enhance its gain and directivity performance. We first investigated the electromagnetic radiation suppression characteristic of Electromagnetic Band-Gap (EBG) structure and utilized the microstrip measurement method to verify the simulation result for required stopband and performance. In this study, we design microstrip antenna and periodic structure with center frequency at 1.575 GHz for Global Positioning System (GPS) to investigate the effect with applications of EBG structure on antenna. Microstrip antenna has the industrial demanding characteristics of light weight, low profile, and easy integration with circuits on PCB. We investigated surface wave suppression and axial ratio improvement with the antenna surrounded by matching resonant EBG structure. Finally, we design the front-end low noise amplifier (LNA) with center frequency at 1.575 GHz to integrate with antenna to further improve GPS receiving sensitivity.