Multi-band GPS/GNSS antennas deliver centimetre-level positioning accuracy

Taoglas has announced a new family of active, multi-band GNSS antennas. Levity Series’ AHP24510 (L1/L2/L-Band) and AHP54510 (L1/L5/L-Band) directional patch antennas are optimised for GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, and BeiDou satellite constellations.

Triangulation across several satellites delivers faster and more accurate acquisition and lock onto signals, especially in built-up areas. The L-Band capability means the series antennas also work with high-precision GNSS correction services. Systems equipped with these services generally achieve better than 200cm positioning accuracy, aided by comparing signals from different frequency bands so that receivers can correct for ionospheric delays and other errors.

Two further benefits of multi-band acquisition are integral redundancy, which, among other advantages, reduces satellite security blind spots and minimises energy consumption, as faster acquisition demands less system uptime, which saves power.

The primary applications for the devices are wearables, navigation, transportation, robotics, precision agriculture, and autonomous vehicles.

Taoglas CEO, Dermot O’Shea, commented: “With greater GNSS precision and lower energy consumption becoming key design criteria for many engineers, we see a growing opportunity for multi-band antennas in critical applications, not least drones, robotics, precision agriculture, and ADAS. The premium performance of multi-band GNSS technology is providing a competitive advantage for the end products in these competitive markets.”

Levity Series active antennas use a 45mm x 45mm x 10mm wide-band, dual-stacked patch design combined with a dual-feed, low noise amplifier (LNA) with 28-29dB gain and filter. The maximum antenna VSWR is 1:1 from 1207MHz to 1603MHz, and the passive antenna efficiency (excluding the LNA) ranges from 39.93% at the lowest design frequency to a peak of 68.51% in the L1 band. The antennas use RHCP to mitigate multipath interference, providing optimal signal reception and minimised losses. Cables and connectors are fully customisable.

The AHP24510 and AHP54510 are part of a fast-growing family of Levity multi-band products from the company developed for high-precision applications. Other antennas include the HP24510A L1/L2/L-Band and HP54510A L1/L5/L-Band stacked-patch passive components, and the TFM.120A surface-mount FEM. The TFM.120A covers the full multi-band GNSS spectrum, including L-Band.

Development kits are available now for the active antennas to simplify and accelerate integration.