RFI localization using C/N₀ measurements from low cost GNSS sensors for robust positioning

Abstract This article studies the radio frequency interference (RFI) source localization in a dynamic collaborative navigation scenario using carrier-to-noise density ratio (C/N 0 ) measurements available from most of the low-cost commercial-off-the-shelf global navigation satellite system receivers. The work is a part of a robust SmartNav positioning engine that aims to provide highly accurate positioning using low cost sensors. Cases of jamming source localization using both a single node and multiple cooperating nodes have been considered. For the jammer localization using a single node, a synthetic array-based approach has been applied whose principle suggests that a receiver’s output at different positions can be assumed as an output of sensor array elements. In the case of multiple cooperating nodes, the centralized approaches based on combining the measurements from all the nodes are presented. The performance of both approaches has been evaluated though a series of simulations, where dynamic wideband interference signal source has been considered. The article presents the implementation details and results achieved by each approach and discusses the impact of different factors influencing the efficacy of the considered techniques. While results indicate that these techniques are mainly useful for coarse localization of the source, this can still be sufficient for improving the situational awareness of the cooperating nodes enabling them to adopt for safer trajectories.