chip antenna implementation on small board

[suryaganesh.c@accord-soft]

Hi family,

i was trying to implementation GPS chip antenna M830120 in a small form factor. We have size restriction in the board. As per our requirement available space in the board for antenna design is (width 16mm & length 6mm).In the specified dimensions is it possible to achieve good efficiency and VSWR by varying the matching elements. Please let me know the your thoughts.

 

[volker@muehlhaus]

I had investigated a similar GPS antenna, the arcticle is published in Microwave Journal:

Online Spotlight: Ceramic Antenna Magic – When the PCB Ground Plane is Your Antenna

Small ceramic antennas have become popular as they occupy less board space than traditional printed circuit board (PCB) antennas; however, the small package of these ceramic devices is only one part of the antenna. It radiates by interacting with a much larger PCB ground. Only if these pieces...

www.microwavejournal.com

A more detailed version is attached in PDF format.

The bad news for you: it is the PCB edge that is the radiator, and PCB edge length matters. The ceramic "antenna" only helps to excite radiation at the PCB edge. If you shrink PCB dimensions as much as you described above, the "antenna" will not work at all.

My study was for a Pulse W3011 antenna, but the AVX design seems to use the exact same concept.

 

[suryaganesh.c@accord-soft]

Thanks for your valuable feedback. Can you recommend any other antenna for GPS frequency range which is suitable for the small dimensions.

 

[volker@muehlhaus]

Can you recommend any other antenna for GPS frequency range which is suitable for the small dimensions.

That's the million dollar question

We have done extensive search for small GPS antennas for customers projects and it seems that there are no plug&play solutions for these very small dimensions. I am afraid you need a full custom design, specifically designed for your environment. My customer stopped the project after realizing the complexity of this antenna design.

 

[noori.re]

For GPS applications, if you want an on-board antenna you will need a big ground plane for good antenna performance.
If possible use an external active antenna (antenna + LNA) and connect it using one of the tiny on-board coax connectors like these here