Vulnerability of GNSS systems

Talk:

GPS provides free of charge precise time and position information worldwide. In a world of instant communications, much of our global telecom infrastructure relies on GPS to provide precise time and frequency information. For instance, telephone companies take advantage of GPS to synchronize their global telecom networks with inexpensive timing receivers.

But despite how much we rely on the Global Positioning System (GPS) for position information and as a time (and hence frequency) base, GPS remains vulnerable to natural and man-made obstacles. From receivers in poor geographic locations, to lost satellite signals, to jammed reception, GPS has at times been sensitive to interruptions.

In this session we will focus on the vulnerabilities of GNSS systems and the Galileo programme.

Galileo is to provide an indigenous alternative high-precision positioning system upon which European nations can rely, independently from the Russian GLONASS and US GPS systems, in case they were disabled by their operators. The use of basic (low-precision) Galileo services will be free and open to everyone. The high-precision capabilities will be available for paying commercial users. Galileo is intended to provide horizontal and vertical position measurements within 1-metre precision, and better positioning services at high latitudes than other positioning systems.