Irish antenna maker Taoglas has unveiled multi-band GPS and GNSS antennas for centimetre-level positioning accuracy.

The patch antennas enable simultaneous multi-band reception for fast, precision positioning.

The Levity series of active, multi-band GNSS antennas include the AHP24510 (L1, L2 and L-Band) and AHP54510 (L1, L5 and L-Band) directional patch antennas optimised for GPS, Galileo, Glonass and Beidou satellite constellations.

Triangulation across several satellites provides faster and more accurate acquisition and lock onto signals, particularly in built-up areas. The L-Band capability means Levity antennas also work with high-precision GNSS correction services. Systems equipped with these services typically achieve better than 200cm positioning accuracy, aided by comparing signals from different frequency bands so receivers can correct for ionospheric delays and other errors.

Two further benefits of multi-band acquisition are integral redundancy, which reduces satellite security blind spots, and lower energy consumption, as faster acquisition demands less system uptime, which saves power.

The primary applications for the AHP24510 (www.taoglas.com/product/active-l1-l2-l-band-gnss-high-precision-antenna) and AHP54510 (www.taoglas.com/product/active-l1-l5-l-band-gnss-high-precision-antenna) are wearables, navigation, transportation, robotics, precision agriculture and autonomous vehicles.

“With greater GNSS precision and lower energy consumption becoming key design criteria for many engineers, we see a growing opportunity for multi-band antennas in critical applications, not least drones, robotics, precision agriculture and ADAS,” said Taoglas CEO Dermot O’Shea. “The premium performance of multi-band GNSS technology is providing competitive advantage for the end products in these competitive markets.”

Levity active antennas use a 45 by 45 by 10mm wideband, dual-stacked patch design combined with a dual-feed, low noise amplifier (LNA) with 28 to 29dB gain, and filter. The maximum antenna VSWR is 1:1 from 1207 to 1603MHz and the passive antenna efficiency excluding the LNA ranges from 39.93% at the lowest design frequency to a peak of 68.51% in the L1 band. The antennas use right-hand circular polarisation to mitigate multipath interference, ensuring optimal signal reception and low losses. Cables and connectors are customisable.

Development kits are available for the active antennas to simplify and accelerate integration.

Founded in 2004, Taoglas (www.taoglas.com) provides antennas, IoT components and custom IoT design services that help users navigate complex RF and wireless systems and brings connectivity to market on time.