Interference to GNSS Receivers in the Civil Aviation Environment

Mark Johnson

Abstract:	There are several potential sources of interference to a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver in a civil aviation application. These sources can come from on-board the same aircraft, from nearby aircraft, or from non-aircraft sources, and include in-band RFI, out-of- band RFI, and physical interference. The paper first presents an introduction to the interference problem, discusses GPS receiver interference susceptibility, and provides an overview of the potential sources of interference to GNSS receivers. It addresses in detail the three interference sources of highest concern and presents possible techniques to mitigate interference. Finally, a discussion of the ongoing RTCA efforts to study the GNSS interference problem is presented, along with some definitions of terms/organizations and some conclusions. Note that because rhe analysis for GPS and GLONASS is so similar, only GPS data is included unless otherwise indicated. The terminology standard used in this paper is to label information GNSS if it applies to GPS and GLONASS and label it specifically GPS or GLONASS if that information only applies to a particular system. In general, because GLONASS is nearer in frequency lo the worst interferers, the problem of interference to GLONASS is more severe than that of GPS. GLONASS does have the advantage (in terms of interference robustness) of multiple carrier frequencies, however, so many interferers would not cause loss of all GLONASS signals. The reader unfamiliar with civil aviation applications of GNSS and the associated specification organizations may want to review the section titled “DEFINITION OF TERMS & ORGANIZATIONS” located near the end of this paper.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 7th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1994) September 20 - 23, 1994 Salt Palace Convention Center Salt Lake City, UT
Pages:	1127 - 1136
Cite this article:	Johnson, Mark, "Interference to GNSS Receivers in the Civil Aviation Environment," Proceedings of the 7th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1994), Salt Lake City, UT, September 1994, pp. 1127-1136.
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