How to classify the GPS module antenna

GPS is a global positioning system,which is positioning and navigating by receiving satellite signals. The antenna must be used for receiving signals. What are the classifications of GPS module antenna?

GPS module antenna classification

1. From the polarization mode, the GPS module antenna has vertical polarization and circular polarization

In terms of performance, circular polarization works better. Therefore, except for special cases, the GPS module antenna will be recommended to use circular polarization.

2. From the mode of installation and placement, the GPS module antenna has internal antenna and external antenna:

The current GPS module is gradually miniaturized and integrated, so the GPS antenna is mostly installed and placed inside. The antenna must be above all metal components, antenna shell must be plated ,well grounded,and be away from EMI interference sources, such as CPU, SDRAM, SD card, crystal oscillator, DC/DC.

3. From the perspective of power supply, the built -in GPS antenna has active GPS antenna and passive GPS antenna

①GPS built -in passive antenna:

For example, the flat plate antenna, which is mainly a ceramic medium, most of them are square design, with a size of 25*25 to 12*12mm, the larger the area, the higher the resonance frequency. Since it doesn’t need power supply, it is called a passive antenna.

The picture shows the connection diagram of our GPS module GPS02-TD and GPS passive antenna AGPS25P-60C:

Silver layer:

The silver layer on the surface of the ceramic antenna can affect the antenna’s resonant frequency. The ideal frequency point is 1574.42MHz. In actual production, the frequency point can be adjusted through adjusting the shape of silver surface.

Ceramic chip:

The antenna performance will be directly affected by the ceramic powder quality and the sintering process. The ceramics size on the market is 25*25,18*18,15*15,12*12. The larger the area of ceramic chip, the higher the resonance frequency.

②GPS built -in active antenna

The built-in GPS active antenna usually refers to the antenna module that needs power supply. It consists of ceramic antenna, LNA (low noise signal module), cable, and connector. The following picture shows our GPS built-in active antenna: ANT-GPS01A

NiceRF's GPS module and GPS antenna recommendation

GPS module
Product model	GPS02-TD	GPS01-TD
Features	1. Support GPS, Galileo, BDS, GLONASS four satellite systems 2. Support SBAS, QZSS 3. Support A-GNSS assisted positioning 4. Support GPS, Galileo, BDS, GLONASS single system work 5. Support dual system work 6. Support GPS/BDS/GLNOASS, GPS/Galileo/BDS three systems 7. Support GPS/Galileo/BDS/GLNOASS four system work 8. The capture sensitivity can reach -147dBm, and the tracking sensitivity can reach -163dBm 9. Support anti-interference technology 10. Power partition management, support a variety of low-power working modes 11. Continuous tracking current (3.3V power supply, use DCDC enable): 19mA@single-mode, 23mA@three-mode 12. Standby current: 25uA 13. The number of tracking channels can be configured, up to 512 14. Support power-on reset, internal integrated low-voltage reset, external reset, software reset	1. Mini GPS module 2. Support GPS, Galileo, BDS, GLONASS four satellite systems 3. Support SBAS, QZSS 4. Support A-GNSS assisted positioning 5. Support GPS, Galileo, BDS, GLONASS single system work 6. Support dual system work 7. Support GPS/BDS/GLNOASS, GPS/Galileo/BDS three systems 8. Support GPS/Galileo/BDS/GLNOASS four system work 9. The capture sensitivity can reach -147dBm, and the tracking sensitivity can reach -163dBm 10. Support anti-interference technology 11. Power partition management, support a variety of low-power working modes 12. Continuous tracking current (3.3V power supply, use DCDC enable): 19mA@single-mode, 23mA@three-mode 13. Standby current: 25uA 14. The number of tracking channels can be configured, up to 512 15. Support power-on reset, internal integrated low-voltage reset, external reset, software reset
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GPS antenna
Product model	AGPS25A-60C	AGPS25P-60C
Type	GPS active antenna	GPS passive antenna
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