Simulation, Fabrication, and Performance Comparison of a GPS Antenna with Radome on the Roof of an Automobile

摘要

In this work, a circularly polarized patch antenna, designed to operate at 1.57 GHz, is used for reception of GPS signals. Its analysis is carried out at first, by means of simulation, considering the following cases: antenna without radome and antenna with acrylic radome. It is shown that the radome produces a distortion of the electric field components. The antenna performance, with radome, was analyzed on several locations on the automobile, considering the effect of the complete chassis. Two cases of basic, a simplified and a more simplified advanced car models (BCM, SACM, and MSACM) were used in order to analyze the influence of chassis shape. Simulations demonstrate that the best location of the antenna is on the roof. Fabrication, experimental and practical tests are also presented. The performance analysis of the developed antenna, using it as a replacement one, is realized using a Garmin GPS and a GPS kit.