On-glass automotive diversity antenna and LNA design for S-band satellite digital radio

Selection combining diversity system with antennas mounted on windshield and backlite of a vehicle is proposed for satellite digital audio radio applications. Standalone exterior mount antennas on metallic vehicles perform well for satellite digital audio radio applications, but for composite body vehicles or interior mount antennas, antenna performance becomes a real issue. Proposed on-glass two-antenna diversity is one solution for such applications. The antenna correlation is calculated using the S-parameters of the antennas and found to be very low due to many wavelengths separation between the antennas. Design of low noise amplifier, which has sub 1 dB noise figure and good P1dB due to strong cellular signals, is also detailed. A diversity receiver is described and ride tests are performed to assess the performance of the diversity system in real-time, under weak satellite signal environment which is regarded as the most challenging reception condition.