Antenova Ltd. is adding a new offering to its range of miniature surface-mount-designed (SMD) antennas and modules for GNSS applications. The new antenna, Agosti (part number SR4G080), measures 9.0 x 5.8 x 1.7 mm and operates with exceptional efficiency in a reduced space on a corner of a printed circuit board (PCB).

The key advantage of the Agosti antenna is its small ground-plane requirement. Most SMD antennas use the surface of the PCB around the antenna as a ground plane from which to radiate the signal — the ground-plane requirement, not the physical dimensions of the antenna, define the space it needs. Internal Antenna

Antenova’s radiated measurement results show Agosti operating well on small ground planes of 40 x 20 mm, 70 x 25 mm and 80 x 30 mm, making it a suitable choice for small form-factor designs, such as small wearable devices, trackers and on-board diagnostics (OBDs).

Agosti is designed to integrate and co-exist with other antennas within the same device. OBDs and trackers often use 4G/LTE with A-GPS for fallback. The Agosti antenna has been tested with Antenova’s Pharoah antenna (part number SR4L073), which also has a very small ground-plane requirement. The two antennas have excellent isolation and can operate in close proximity to each other in a very small device without the 4G signal interfering with sensitive GNSS signals.

“Small SMD antennas such as Agosti are an exciting alternative to the common delicate ceramic patch antennas used in GNSS designs,” said Michael Castle, product marketing manager, Antenova. “This is not just because the SMD antennas are significantly smaller. It is also because they provide omni-directional performance.

“Patch antennas are typically 12 mm or 14 mm square, are heavier than SMD antennas, and need a much larger ground plane and keep-out area,” Castle said. “They also have to be placed in the center of a circuit board and only work well when they point at the sky. Antenova’s new generation of SMD antennas overcome all of these limitations and perform well regardless of position and orientation of the device.”

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