Link Budget and Design of a Wilkinson Power Combiner for a 2-Element Conformal GPS Antenna

This paper explores the relationship between GPS antenna space coverage, the number of in-range satellites, and the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) to design a Wilkinson power combiner for a 2-element conformal GPS antenna. Efficient power combiners play a crucial role in improving signal distribution within GPS receiver arrays. This work reports the design of a compact Wilkinson power combiner disc, which performs summation of individual power received inside a cylindrical projectile body. The concept is validated by integrating the printed power combiner disc with two GPS conformal microstrip patch receiving antennas. The simulation results of the various parameters of the power combiner are explained in the paper.