volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

In the paper, a dual-band circularly polarized (CP) antenna with wide axial-ratio and gain beamwidths is proposed for high-precision BDS applications. The radiator is consisted of four groups of dipoles, eight metal columns, and a reflector. The half-power beam width (HPBW) can be effectively increased by bending a portion of the dipole into an arc and loading a series of metal columns on the ground. Besides, a reactive impedance structure (RIS) is inserted serves as a reflector to improve the axial ratio beamwidth (ARBW) and obtain unidirectional radiation. At the same layer of the dipoles, a four-feed network is presented to provide stable quadrature-phase excitation. For validation, the designed antenna is manufactured, where the overall size is 0.48λ₀ × 0.48λ₀ × 0.12λ₀. Measurement results suggest that the proposed antenna is capable of operating efficiently within the frequency range of 1.17-1.22 GHz (4.2%) and 1.5-1.65 GHz (9.5%), which covers BDS B1 and B2 band. Moreover, at four main planes, the measured 3-dB ARBW/HPBW are more than 121°/121° and 150°/198° at 1.207 GHz and 1.561 GHz, separately. Consider that the proposed CP antenna exhibits wide overlapped beamwidth and small size, it is conducive to high-precision positioning in BDS applications.

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Dr. Junhao Ren

Professor Hongmei Liu

Dr. Youjie Zeng

Dr. Zhongbao Wang

Prof. Shao-Jun Fang