Efficiency of the Miniature Anti-jam GNSS Antenna Array

Abstract

The use of the miniature controlled reception pattern antennas (CRPAs) in GNSS equipment is one of the trends in GPS, Baidow, GLONASS development. A miniaturized GPS antenna array technology reduces the size of the antenna elements and the array dimensions. Miniature CRPAs are in demand not only with mass consumer of GPS/GLONASS house-hold equipment, but with expert users of complex hardware as well, where high-tech multi-sensor miniature antenna systems (AC) can be applied. Such types of AC used for intelligent control of spatial selectivity are considered as antenna arrays. The advantages of miniature CRPAs with anti-jamming capability include possibility to be installed on vehicles where it used to be impossible due to their size. The negative effect of miniaturization is in degradation of some antennas characteristics, such as gain, suppression of the reverse lobe of radiation pattern (RP), a heterogeneity of RP. In miniature antennas, the resonator interinfluence increases, that leads to distortion of individual emitters RP and to the in-crease of the total RP lobe of the antenna array irregularity, as well as the width of RP lobe. Designers take special measures to reduce the interinfluence of the resonators. However, they are not fully described in the available literature. Therefore, the achieved performance of miniature CRPAs is in great interest. The final criterion (from a consumer point of view) is in effective functional of a device containing a miniature CRPA, the degradation of its parameters in compare with traditional CRPA equipment of expert users. The authors focus on property investigation of miniature CRPAs manufactured primarily by US industry. Specifications of two antennas and some expected details of the miniaturized antenna array technology are described along with the test results of their ability to perform the objective function jammer suppression. The article contains the results obtained from independent testing of electrodynamics parameters of miniature L1/L2 frequency CRPA and its design analysis. The experimental data of sensor interinfluence are outlined. The measures to reduce the sensor interinfluence are take into account. The efficiency of the miniature antenna is estimated in the process of interference suppression by means of computer simulation. The Monte-Carlo method is applied. For the sake of generality, two types of algorithm for interference suppression are used.