A compact-sized microstrip antenna for GPS applications

A microstrip antenna structure is proposed for global positioning system (GPS) applications. This structure is intended to reduce the antenna size at low cost in order to fulfill the increasing needs of mobile devices with GPS functions. Thus, dielectric slabs with low relative permittivity, which can be commonly available on the market at a low cost, are employed. The size reduction is achieved by cutting slits and L-slots on the surface of the microstrip metal patch in order to lower the resonance frequency of the structure. The numerical and experimental results verify that the antenna design can improve the wide-angle axial ratio in addition to size the reduction with insignificant reduction of the operation-frequency bandwidth (still fully sufficient to cover the GPS frequency hand). (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.