High-precision GNSS antennas play a critical role in positioning, surveying, mapping, autonomous driving, geodetic monitoring, and robotics. Although GNSS modules and receivers continue to improve, the antenna remains the primary element that determines signal quality, stability, multipath rejection, and positioning accuracy. A well-designed GNSS antenna significantly enhances performance, especially in challenging environments.
This guide aims to help you understand how high-precision GNSS antennas are engineered, what performance indicators matter, and which structural factors contribute the most to reliability and accuracy.
The wireless antenna element—also known as the passive antenna or ''antenna body'' — is responsible for receiving and radiating GNSS signals. Its structure has three key components: substrate material, antenna form, and feed-point design.
The substrate material determines dielectric properties, radiation efficiency, size, and environmental stability. Common GNSS antenna substrate materials include:
Light weight
Cost-effective
Suitable for compact designs
Good mechanical stability
Higher dielectric constant
Enables smaller form factors
Improved strength
Easy to manufacture
Low dielectric loss
High stability
Better high-frequency performance
Popular for multi-band GNSS antennas
Ultra-high dielectric
Very small size
Excellent environmental stability
Ideal for L1/L2/L5 compact GNSS antennas
For antennas used in automotive, UAV, and geodetic applications, the radome material also influences performance:
High strength
Weather resistance
Good shielding
Long service life
Ceramic and metal-based structures usually deliver the highest precision because their dielectric properties remain stable under temperature changes. In Harxon's product development process, we have consistently observed that substrate stability directly correlates with phase-center repeatability.
The geometry of the antenna greatly affects its gain, bandwidth, and multipath rejection capabilities.
Single ceramic patch or board
Low cost
Easy to produce
Suitable for consumer-level GNSS applications
Multiple stacked dielectric layers
Wider frequency bandwidth
Better multipath suppression
Supports full-band or multi-band GNSS
Metal patch + dielectric + ground
High gain
Stable phase center
Excellent for RTK, surveying, UAV, and precision farming
In high-precision scenarios, multi-layer and stacked patch antennas show clear advantages. In our own Harxon multi-band GNSS antennas, layered structures allow us to control resonant modes more accurately, achieving both wide bandwidth and consistent gain across L1/L2/L5/B1/B2/G1/G2 frequencies.
The feed-point configuration dramatically affects:
Phase Center Error (PCE)
Gain symmetry
Axial ratio
Multipath resistance
Simplest structure
Acceptable for low-precision applications
Phase center stability around ±2 mm
Reduced phase center variation
Better performance in multi-band GNSS
Stability within ±1 mm
Best balance across frequency bands
Excellent symmetry
Stability within ±0.5 mm or better
The general rule is: the more optimized the feed structure, the better the GNSS antenna's comprehensive performance. In professional-grade antennas like those we design at Harxon, multi-feed systems are essential for centimeter-level RTK accuracy.
The PCB is not merely a mounting platform—it influences electromagnetic behavior, mechanical stability, and filtering performance.
A well-designed PCB helps:
Improve signal integrity
Optimize ground plane effects
Lower noise
Enhance multi-band consistency
High-precision GNSS antennas often require:
Low-loss PCB material
Multi-layer routing
Carefully designed ground and vias
Shielding isolation zones
Inferior PCB design can cause distorted radiation patterns, reduced gain, or a high axial ratio. At Harxon, we treat PCB design as one of the core determinants of antenna quality, not just a mechanical component.
The Low-Noise Amplifier (LNA) is one of the most influential active components because GNSS satellite signals are extremely weak—often below –130 dBm.
The LNA must:
Amplify weak signals
Maintain low noise figure
Provide stable gain across GNSS bands
| Parameter | Importance |
Gain | Ensures adequate signal strength |
Noise Figure (NF) | Lower NF = better sensitivity |
1 dB Compression Point | Prevents distortion under strong interference |
Linearity | Ensures clean amplification |
High-precision applications—RTK, PPP, surveying—cannot tolerate noise figure instability. In Harxon's antennas, multi-stage LNAs are used to achieve optimal gain distribution while maximizing signal purity.
Modern environments are full of wireless noise—from LTE, WiFi, UHF, C-band, and in-vehicle systems. GNSS signals can easily be overwhelmed if filtering is inadequate.
SAW Filters
Stable
Good band selectivity
Effective at narrowband GNSS frequencies
BAW Filters
Higher performance than SAW
Excellent out-of-band rejection
Ideal for L5/B2a signals
LC Filters
Simple
Low cost
Used as secondary filtering stages
Filter Function
Reject out-of-band interference
Maintain in-band flatness
Reduce insertion loss
Protect LNA from overload
In Harxon engineering practice, filtering is not optional—it is essential. Strong filtering dramatically improves accuracy in electromagnetic-noisy environments such as cities, ports, agriculture machinery, or autonomous vehicles.
A metal shielding cover protects the LNA and PCB from:
EMI (electromagnetic interference)
PCB cross-talk
Environmental noise
Voltage fluctuations
Internal shielding also improves:
GNSS positioning stability
Multi-band consistency
Low-elevation signal capture
High-precision antennas always include a shielding layer. Without it, even a good antenna element can perform poorly in real-world use.
Beyond electrical design, mechanical construction impacts durability and long-term accuracy.
Critical factors include:
Radome strength
Waterproofing level
Thermal stability
Vibration resistance
UV resistance
For professional surveying, agriculture, and autonomous driving, an antenna must deliver stable performance despite extreme temperature, shock, and long operation times. At Harxon, many of our antennas undergo rigorous environmental testing—temperature cycling, vibration, salt-spray, humidity—to ensure long-term reliability.
When evaluating or selecting a high-precision GNSS antenna, consider the following core indicators:
The most important factor in high-precision applications. Lower PCE = better accuracy.
A stable high-elevation pattern improves sky coverage.
Low axial ratio improves multipath rejection.
Lower NF = better sensitivity and signal clarity.
Strong filtering ensures reliable operation in interference-heavy environments.
Durability directly affects long-term performance.
Through years of development at Harxon, we have confirmed that precision results from the balanced optimization of all structural components—not just one specification. A good GNSS antenna is not defined by gain alone or material alone, but by the harmonious integration of design, electronics, mechanics, and environmental engineering.
The performance of a high-precision GNSS antenna is determined by a complex combination of structural and electronic factors—substrate materials, antenna geometry, feed-point design, PCB layout, LNA amplification, filtering components, and environmental shielding. Each piece contributes to stability, accuracy, and reliability.
Understanding the structural breakdown of GNSS antennas allows engineers, integrators, and product designers to make better decisions—and helps ensure stable, centimeter-level accuracy across diverse applications such as surveying, robotics, agriculture, and autonomous systems.
