AGG044 Active GPS Antenna

The AGG044 surface-mount high-gain GPS antenna is the smallest active quadrifilar helix antenna available, providing high performance in difficult GPS applications.

The AGG044 integrates a high-performance, high-gain, low-noise amplifier and is an active antenna ideal in applications where:
• the device is handheld, body-worn, or otherwise surrounded by high-dielectric materials that would de-tune conventional antennas;
• the antenna is tightly integrated with other antennas, e.g., Bluetooth®/GPS receivers or GPS/GSM mobile phones;
• there are tight constraints on the size of the device or the amount of space allocated to ground planes;
• the GPS receiver requires 20dB or more of input pre-amplification;
• the orientation of the device is random; or
• the antenna will be embedded in the device.

The AGG044 antenna is balanced, which isolates it from the device and enables the antenna to reject common mode noise resident on the device ground plane. The construction and materials of the antenna constrain its near-field to a very small volume, therefore materials near the antenna have negligible de-tuning effects and the antenna maintains its pattern and efficiency in the presence of dielectric loading. As a dielectrically-loaded antenna with a high-performance SAW filter, the AGG044 antenna effectively attenuates signals from common GSM and ISM frequencies by as much as 30dB, minimizing the need for additional filtering.

The AGG044 antenna may be deployed in an external, “stub-style” configuration, but it is also a simple antenna to embed due to its isolation properties. The antenna is deployed with either a black radome or an ABS plastic sleeve.

Technical Data

Type: Quadrifilar Helix
Frequency: 1573.42 (min), 1575.42 (typ) 1577.42 (max) MHz
Polarization: Right-hand circular polarized
Voltage: 2.8 (min), 3.3 (typ), 3.6 (max) V
Current: 13 (typ), 15 (max) mA
Gain: +24 (min), +25 (typ) dBic
Beamwidth: 135 Degrees
Bandwidth (3dB): 20 MHz
Axial Ratio: <2.0 @Zenith
VSWR: <2.0:1 (typ), 2.3:1 (max)
Impedance: 50 ohms
Noise Figure: 1.2 (typ), 1.3 (max) dB
Input 3rd Order Intercept Point: -10 dBm
Operating Temperature: -40 +20 +85 °C
Element Dimensions: 10 (diameter) x 17 (length) mm
Overall Dimensions (w/radome): 13 (dia) x 14.6 (width) x 44 (length) mm
Weight (excl radome or sleeve): 8.4 grams
Mounting: SMT