A Novel 1.5 $^primeprime$ Quadruple Antenna for Tri-Band GPS Applications

A new global positioning system (GPS) antenna is proposed to cover the three GPS bands (L1, L2, and L5, namely 1575, 1227, and 1176 MHz) with the L5 band to be added after 2006. The developed antenna size is only $1.5^primeprimetimes 1.5^primeprime$ in aperture corresponding to $lambda/7timeslambda/7$ $(lambda=hboxfree hboxspace hboxwavelength)$ and $lambda/13 hboxthick$. Quadrature feeding is employed to ensure right-hand circular polarized (RHCP) radiation. The final miniature antenna exhibits a gain greater than 2 dBi, and to our knowledge this is the smallest such size for circular polarized (CP) operation covering all three bands. Detailed parametric simulations leading to the best design along with measurements for the constructed antenna are presented.