Design of a Patch Antenna Using Photonic Band Gap Technology for GALILEO Next Generation GPS System

The next generation of satellite system developed by the European Union and the European Space Agency, GALILEO, is schedule to be fully implemented by 2010. The system is being projected to operate at 1.17645 GHz (L5 frequency) for civilian purposes as an alternative of the currently North American system, and will be used as a safety signal on Ground Positioning Systems (GPS) devices. A low-cost microstrip antenna planar patch antenna resonating at L5 frequency is developed with optimized parameters for automotive applications. For the last 15 years, periodic structures are one of the most noticeable topics of research due to their promising applications in microwave circuit and antenna design. A Photonic Band Gap (PBG) dielectric substrate comprised of periodical structures was used during the development of this project intending to minimize the surface wave losses for a given bandwidth, and therefore, a higher performance antenna could be achieved. Analytical calculations were used to simulate the antenna far-field radiation patterns, S parameters, matching impedance network and Voltage Standing Wave Radio (VSWR). Measurements were then performed in order to validate the design of the antenna. A comparison between the measured results and comparison between the measured results and calculated parameters reports a great accuracy of the design method proposed in this paper.