Virtual Validation of In-Flight GNSS Signal Reception during Jamming for Aeronautics Applications

Abstract

Accurate navigation is a crucial asset for safe aviation operation. The GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) is set to play an always more important role in aviation but needs to cope with the risk of interference, possibly causing signal disruption and loss of navigation capability. It is crucial, therefore, to evaluate the impact of interference events on the GNSS system on board an aircraft, in order to plan countermeasures. This is currently obtained through expensive and time-consuming flight measurement campaigns. This paper shows on the other hand, a method developed to create a virtual digital twin, capable of reconstructing the entire flight scenario (including flight dynamics, actual antenna, and impact of installation on aircraft) and predicting the signal and interference reception at airborne level, with clear benefits in terms of reproducibility and easiness. Through simulations that incorporate jamming scenarios or any other interference scenarios, the effectiveness of the aircraft’s satellite navigation capability in the real environment can be evaluated, providing valuable insights for informed decision-making and system enhancement. By extension, the method shown can provide the ability to predict real-life outcomes even without the need for actual flight, enabling the analysis of different antenna-aircraft configurations in a specific interference scenario.