A miniaturized GPS antenna in LTCC with linear polarization suitable for SoP integration

Abstract

In this paper, a new miniaturized GPS antenna is presented. The antenna design is based on a dipole topology and is intended to operate at the L1 frequency of 1.575 GHz. A conventional λ/2 dipole would be too large at this frequency so miniaturization techniques have been applied. The result is a planar antenna whose dimensions are 32 mm × 24 mm, making it one of the smallest GPS antennas ever reported. It exhibits a good impedance match and positive gain at the desired frequency. Furthermore, the antenna incorporates the option of end-loading for bandwidth enhancement. The chosen material system is Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC). This, along with its small size, makes it suitable for integration with System-on-Package (SoP) designs.