A Miniaturized Multiband Antenna Array for Robust Navigation in Aerial Applications

Abstract

Satellite navigation is more and more important in a plethora of very different application fields, ranging from bank transactions to shipping, from autonomous driving to aerial applications, such as avionics as well as UAVs. Due to the increasing dependency on satellite navigation, also the need for robust systems, able to counteract unintentional or intentional interferences, is growing. When considering interference-robust designs however, also complexity increases. Top performance is obtained through the use of multi-antenna receivers capable of performing spatial nulling in the direction of the interference signals. In particular, mobile applications (aeronautics, UAVs, automotive) have a substantial interest in robust navigation, but they also have strongest constraints on weight and available place for installation, with the use of bigger and heavier systems posing a substantial problem. In order to overcome this limitation, the present work shows the design, manufacturing and testing of a miniaturized five elements (4+1) antenna array, which operates at L1/E1 band (with array capability) as well as at L5/E5 band (as single antenna). The proposed antenna array is able to fit into a 3.5 inch footprint, i.e. is compliant with the most widespread footprint for single antennas. Moreover, it is capable of multiband operation and meet the requirements of dual frequency multi constellation (DFMC) systems. Thanks to the extreme miniaturization and its compliance with current airborne single antenna footprint, the presented antenna array is suitable for easy integration in future aerial platforms, whilst enabling robustness-enhancing interference mitigation techniques using multi-antenna processing.