This chapter has presented the characterisation of the GPS antennas operating in different on-body scenarios. Performance of these antennas is severely affected by the multipath arrival of the GPS signal in realistic operational conditions. These effects have been investigated using a statistical model replicating the multipath GPS environment. It has been shown that the linear polarised antennas can work better for on-body GPS links in multipath environment as compared to the conventional choice of CP antennas. It has also been shown that the antenna performance depends hugely on the body posture and on-body antenna position. The model also reduces the antenna design and testing durations by removing the need of detailed, uncontrolled and lengthy open field test procedures and providing efficient and accurate predictions of GPS antenna performance in cluttered environment.

Chapter Contents:

• 9.1 GPS antennas in the presence of human body
• 9.1.1 Experimental set-up for on-body antenna performance
• 9.1.2 Effects of varying antenna-body separation
• 9.1.3 Dependency on on-body GPS antenna position
• 9.1.4 Effects of body posture
• 9.2 On-body GPS antennas in real working environment
• 9.2.1 Statistical modelling of GPS multipath environment
• 9.2.1.1 GPS mean effective gain (MEGGPS)
• 9.2.1.2 GPS angle of arrival (AoAGPS)
• 9.2.1.3 GPS coverage efficiency (?c)
• 9.2.2 On-body GPS antennas in multipath environment
• 9.2.2.1 Experimental configuration
• 9.2.2.2 Evaluation of GPS antenna performance
• 9.3 Summary
• References

Inspec keywords: statistical analysis; wireless channels; Global Positioning System; antenna testing

Other keywords: linear polarised antennas; CP antennas; statistical model; on-body antenna position; GPS antennas; multipath GPS environment; lengthy open field test procedures; GPS signal; on-body GPS links; antenna design; cluttered environment; body posture; radio channels; antenna testing durations

Subjects: Production facilities and engineering; Satellite communication systems; Radionavigation and direction finding; Single antennas