GPS Interference successfully detected in Graz, Austria
Press release
18.09.2014
Researchers at TeleConsult Austria GmbH (now OHB Austria) successfully detect GPS interference signal in Graz!
Applications of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), such as GPS or Galileo, are increasingly becoming the target of interference attacks. Such interference attacks are illegal and can cause safety-critical GNSS applications to fail. However, in order to develop suitable countermeasures, these interference signals must first be identified (detected). Researchers at TeleConsult Austria GmbH, a sister company of the German TeleOrbit GmbH, have now succeeded in detecting such an interference signal in Graz.
Global satellite navigation systems are becoming increasingly important. Safety-critical applications, such as aviation, place the highest demands on the system. The use of satellite-based and ground-based augmentation systems improves the positioning accuracy of satellite signals to such an extent that even precision approaches using GNSS are possible.
Due to the large distance between the satellite and the GNSS receiver, the signals from the GNSS satellites are extremely weak when they reach the receiver and can therefore be easily disrupted. Satellite signals can be jammed using devices known as jammers, which can be powered by cigarette lighters in trucks and cars, for example, to prevent GNSS monitoring. Jammers are very cheap to buy online. As a result, the use of such jammers is expected to increase in the coming years.
These interference signals can significantly affect the operation of GNSS receivers within a radius of up to 1000 m. This can lead to poorer position accuracy, an incorrect position, or even total positioning failure. Jammers located in vehicles near airports can thus unintentionally interfere with the satellite signals required for approach. This can have devastating consequences for satellite-based precision approach procedures in aviation.
The GAIMS (GNSS Airport Interference Monitoring System) research project focuses on detecting these interference signals. As part of this project, researchers at TeleConsult Austria GmbH in Graz succeeded in detecting a jammer not far from Graz Airport. At 11:30 a.m. on August 19, 2014, an interference signal was detected on the Südautobahn (A2) motorway. Various independent algorithms detected the jammer simultaneously. The data collected during an intensive measurement campaign is currently being evaluated and examined in detail.
The GAIMS project is being carried out by TeleConsult Austria GmbH, Brimatech Services GmbH, and the Institute of Navigation at Graz University of Technology as part of the 9th call for proposals of the Austrian Space Application Program. GAIMS is funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation, and Technology and supervised by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency.
Further information can be found here: https://projekte.ffg.at/projekt/1410279/pdf