Highly Integrated Multifunctional Antenna for Global Navigation Satellite System

Abstract

This communication proposes a new highly integrated multifunctional global navigation satellite system (GNSS) antenna used for navigation or surveying high-precision area, the fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication, and short-distance wireless communication. The antenna consists of four elements, saying: 1) a low-profile navigation element on one substrate covering all the GNSS bands and 2) two long-term evolution multiple-input–multiple-output (LTE-MIMO) elements and one Wi-Fi element uniformly distributed on the edge of the substrate. This symmetrical configuration ensures the navigation element’s low axial ratio (AR) and radiation pattern symmetry, as well as navigation accuracy. In addition, to enhance the isolation between the GNSS element and other three elements under high integration, these three elements are designed to avoid resonating within the GNSS bands. The measured peak gains of the GNSS element are 6.0 dBi from 1.16 to 1.28 GHz and 6.5 dBi from 1.52 to 1.62 GHz. The −6 dB impedance bandwidth of the LTE-MIMO elements can cover 840–960, 1800–2200, and 2500–2700 MHz. The distance communication of the Wi-Fi element is 80 m. The experimental results indicate that the proposed multifunctional antenna features low profile, high integration, and wideband, implying potential application in the multifunctional satellite navigation system.