GNSS Antenna Using a Meandered Spirial and High Impedance Surface

The Arralis design is a low space, weight and power spiral antenna which will use a high impedance surface to reduce the thickness (to 1mm). By using a meandered spiral type antenna on a high permittivity substrate, the surface area will be kept within a diameter of 50mm and by incorporating a ground plane, the mounting or 'contact' interactions are removed meaning that the antenna can be positioned easily on equipment or clothing. The single connection component will be well matched to 50 ohms from GPS L5 to GPS L1 frequency bands, and will operate using Right-Hand Circularly (RHC) polarized waves with a 3dB axial ratio in-band. By using a multi-resonant, high impedance surface to introduce multiple in-band, in-phase waves from the antenna reflector, the antenna gain and radiation efficiency are increased over a wider bandwidth than conventional antennas and with the added advantage that the thickness and weight are kept to a minimum. This highly repeatable design will be manufactured using existing PCB manufacturing processes to ensure high yields on a technology that is resilient for battlefield conditions, and to keep the costs to a minimum.