A GNSS Conformal Antenna Achieving Hemispherical Coverage in L1/L5 Band

Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) positioning accuracy is nowadays important in many applications. The GNSS ideal antenna should exhibit an hemispheric coverage, in order to be able to receive signals at similar power levels for all positive elevations: this is not really the case with single antennas, exhibiting good coverage of near-zenith directions and then worse performance close to horizon. A conformal antenna for L1/L5 GNSS band is here presented. The antenna is a combination of multiple radiating elements, positioned on a conformal surface, such as to improve the coverage at low elevation angles, i.e. close to horizon. Simulations, manufacturing and measurements are shown in the paper.