The Development and Validation of a High-Fidelity Electromagnetic Model of the Integrated Multipath Limiting Antenna

Daniel N. Aloi, Mazen Alsliety and Sai Kiran

Abstract:	In order to ensure meeting the system integrity requirements of the Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS), it is necessary to characterize the entire GPS signal RF path from the space vehicle (SV) to the LAAS Ground Facility (LGF). This includes characterization of the GPS signal-in-space, the multipath environment for the particular LGF site, the GPS reception antennae employed, and the receiver architecture. As part of that effort, this paper describes the development and validation of a high fidelity antenna model (HFAM) of the Integrated Multipath Limiting Antenna (IMLA) used for GPS signal reception by the LGF. The developed high-fidelity model incorporates exact physical dimensions of each of the two antennae that comprise the IMLA, and integrates the constitutive conductive and non-conductive materials. The commercial off-the-shelf electromagnetic modeling package FEKO is utilized for modeling both the MLA and HZA antennae. The rationale behind the choice of FEKO is discussed, along with a presentation of some of the other available electromagnetic modeling techniques. The developed HFAM is validated using measured data provided by dB Systems Inc., the antenna manufacturer. The gain and phase patterns of the modeled antennae, along with their desired-to-undesired (D/U) gain ratios as a function of elevation angle are derived and compared with measured data in order to validate the developed model and the modeling methodology adopted.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 60th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (2004) June 7 - 9, 2004 Dayton Marriott Hotel Dayton, OH
Pages:	328 - 339
Cite this article:	Aloi, Daniel N., Alsliety, Mazen, Kiran, Sai, "The Development and Validation of a High-Fidelity Electromagnetic Model of the Integrated Multipath Limiting Antenna," Proceedings of the 60th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (2004), Dayton, OH, June 2004, pp. 328-339.
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