Experimental Assessment of OSNMA-Enabled GNSS Positioning in Interference-Affected RF Environments

Area of Science:

• * Navigation Systems Engineering
• * Satellite Navigation Security
• * Radio Frequency Interference Analysis

Background:

• * Increasing threats of Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), jamming, and spoofing impacting Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS).
• * Documented prevalence of RFI and spoofing incidents in Eastern Europe necessitates performance evaluation of authentication systems.
• * Need for end-user perspective assessment of GNSS authentication in challenging RF environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To evaluate the real-world performance of the Galileo Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA) system.
• * To assess the robustness of OSNMA against RFI, jamming, and spoofing in degraded RF environments.
• * To determine key performance indicators for end-users relying solely on authenticated Galileo signals.

Main Methods:

• * Conducted a data-collection campaign across urban, suburban, and rural settings in Romania.
• * Utilized a commercial GNSS receiver capable of OSNMA authentication.
• * Analyzed signal capture data, focusing on instances of RFI and their impact on Position, Velocity, and Time (PVT) solutions.

Main Results:

• * Galileo OSNMA demonstrated significant robustness against both accidental and intentional interference.
• * Authentication performance was assessed under conditions with a high incidence of RFI.
• * Identified specific scenarios where RFI impaired or prevented authenticated PVT solutions.

Conclusions:

• * Galileo OSNMA provides a reliable authentication service even in challenging, RF-degraded real-world environments.
• * The system exhibits resilience against various forms of intentional and unintentional RF interference.
• * OSNMA is a valuable tool for enhancing the security and trustworthiness of navigation solutions.