Design of a Compact GPS and SDARS Integrated Antenna for Automotive Applications

This letter describes a novel compact solution for integrating a Global Positioning System (GPS) and a Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS) antenna in a very small volume to satisfy the requirements of the automotive market. The GPS antenna is a classic small commercial ceramic patch, and the SDARS antenna is designed in order to fit in the reduced space without affecting radiation and band performance of the GPS antenna. The SDARS basic geometry is a square-ring microstrip antenna operating in the frequency range 2.320-2.345 GHz with left-hand circular polarization (LHCP), and it is wrapped around the GPS patch, which receives a right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) signal at 1.575 GHz. The overall volume of the presented integrated antenna solution is only 30 x 30 x 7.6 mm
³
, rendering it attractive for the automotive market.