High power microwave front door channel effect of GNSS-compatible receiver antennas

Zhang Zehai; Zhang Yang; Zheng Kun; Ge Xingjun

doi:10.11884/HPLPB202638.250176

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Article Navigation > High Power Laser and Particle Beams > 2026 > Accepted Manuscript

Zhang Zehai, Zhang Yang, Zheng Kun, et al. High power microwave front door channel effect of GNSS-compatible receiver antennas[J]. High Power Laser and Particle Beams. doi: 10.11884/HPLPB202638.250176

Citation:

Zhang Zehai, Zhang Yang, Zheng Kun, et al. High power microwave front door channel effect of GNSS-compatible receiver antennas[J]. High Power Laser and Particle Beams. doi: 10.11884/HPLPB202638.250176

Citation:

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High power microwave front door channel effect of GNSS-compatible receiver antennas

doi: 10.11884/HPLPB202638.250176

Institute of High-Power Microwave, College of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, National University of Defense Technology (NUDT), Changsha 410073, China

Received Date: 2025-06-19
Accepted Date: 2025-09-15
Rev Recd Date: 2025-10-22

Available Online: 2025-11-21

Abstract

Abstract

Background
Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) compatible receiver antennas—integrating multiple global navigation constellations—feature more complex front-door radio frequency (RF) channel architectures than single-constellation GPS antennas. High power microwave (HPM) effect research on GNSS compatible antennas with complex RF front-end were rarely seen.
Purpose
To investigate the GNSS compatible antenna HPM effects, radiation experiments on a type of GNSS-compatible receiver antenna were carried out, a customized characterization approach was designed to analyze the damaged antennas and identify the specific failed components within the complex RF front-end.
Methods
The RF front-end structure of the antenna was analyzed, revealing a design with two separate RF channels (around 1.25 GHz and 1.6 GHz), each with a dedicated first-stage low-noise amplifier (LNA), followed by shared second and third-stage LNAs. The performance of these components was characterized employing a customized “hot measurement” setup, which using a vector network analyzer incorporating a test antenna and a DC blocker.
Results
The measurements pinpointed the failure to the first-stage LNA (Q6) of the RF channel corresponding to the HPM source frequency of 1.6 GHz. This specific component showed significant degradation or complete failure. In contrast, the first-stage LNA (Q4) of the other channel (～1.25 GHz) and the shared subsequent amplifier stages (Q2 and Q1) remained unaffected. The root cause was confirmed by replacing the damaged Q6 LNA, which successfully restored the antenna’s full functionality.
Conclusions
This work demonstrates that in a multi-channel RF front-end, HPM effects can be highly localized, selectively damaging the first-stage amplifier of the channel cover the HPM frequency while sparing other sections. The findings provide valuable insights into the HPM vulnerability of complex RF systems and offer a reference methodology for related effect analysis.
- GNSS antenna,
- high power microwave,
- effect,
- front-door channel,
- low noise amplifier(LNA)

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References(14)

References

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