IP Library › Granted Patent US 10,120,080
Granted Patent B2
US 10,120,080 · App. 15/385,662 · Granted Nov 6, 2018

Detection of spoofed satellite signals

Inventor: Steven P. Davies (Ontario, CA)
Assignee: Raytheon Company
G01S19/215
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,120,080
App. No.
15/385,662
Granted
Nov 6, 2018
Kind
B2
Abstract

A technology is provided for detecting spoofed satellite signals. An aircraft may be equipped with a top antenna that is adapted to receive satellite signals and a bottom antenna that is adapted to receive terrestrial signals. A signal may be received on the top antenna and the bottom antenna. Relative signal strength between the top antenna and the bottom antenna may be used to differentiate satellite sourced signals from terrestrial sourced signals.

Claims (59)

1. A method for detecting spoofed satellite signals, the method comprising:

receiving a signal via a plurality of antennas, wherein the plurality of antennas are positioned on an aircraft;

determining that the signal is a spoofed satellite signal based on a comparison of the signal strengths received via each of the plurality of antennas with a dynamic threshold; and

determining an authenticated state when relative signal strengths associated with the signal meets the dynamic threshold for confirming that the signal is the authentic satellite signal.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using the dynamic threshold for determining that the signal is the spoofed satellite signal from the terrestrial source or an authentic satellite signal, wherein the dynamic threshold is based on at least one of: aircraft attitude, aircraft position, aircraft heading, and satellite position.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing the comparison using an aircraft attitude to determine an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas for an authentic satellite signal.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing the comparison using at least one of aircraft position, aircraft heading, aircraft attitude, and satellite position to determine an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas for an authentic satellite signal.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing the comparison using an aircraft attitude to determine an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas for the spoofed satellite signal from a terrestrial source.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing the comparison using at least one of aircraft position, aircraft heading, aircraft attitude, and information on surrounding terrain to determine an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas for the spoofed satellite signal from a terrestrial source.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of antennas are positioned on an upper portion or a lower portion of the aircraft.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining that the spoofed satellite signal is from a terrestrial signal source.

9. A system for detecting spoofed satellite signals, the system comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a signal via a plurality of antennas, wherein the plurality of antennas are positioned on an aircraft;

a signal comparison module configured to compare the signal strengths received via the plurality of antennas with a dynamic threshold;

a signal module configured to determine that the signal is a spoofed satellite signal when the signal strengths are compared against the dynamic threshold,

wherein the signal module determines an authenticated state when relative signal strengths associated with the signals meet the dynamic threshold for confirming that the signal is the authentic satellite signal.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the dynamic threshold is based on at least one of aircraft attitude, aircraft position, aircraft heading, and satellite position, or a combination of these.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the dynamic threshold comprises aircraft attitude, and wherein the signal comparison module determines an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas to identify an authentic satellite signal.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the dynamic threshold comprises one of aircraft position, aircraft heading, aircraft attitude, and satellite position, and wherein the signal comparison module determines an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas to identify an authentic satellite signal.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the dynamic threshold comprises one of aircraft position, aircraft heading, aircraft attitude, and information on surrounding terrain, and wherein the signal comparison module determines an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas for a spoofed satellite signal from a terrestrial source.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein one of the plurality of antennas is positioned on an upper portion of the aircraft, and one of the antennas is positioned on a lower portion of the aircraft.

15. A method for detecting spoofed satellite signals, the method comprising:

receiving a signal via a plurality of antennas, wherein the plurality of antennas are positioned on an aircraft;

determining that the signal is a spoofed satellite signal based on a comparison of the signal strengths received via each of the plurality of antennas with a dynamic threshold; and

determining a rejected state when relative signal strengths associated with the signal meets the dynamic threshold for confirming that the signal is a spoofed satellite signal.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising using the dynamic threshold for determining that the signal is the spoofed satellite signal from a terrestrial source or an authentic satellite signal, wherein the dynamic threshold is based on at least one of: aircraft attitude, aircraft position, aircraft heading, and satellite position.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising performing the comparison using an aircraft attitude to determine an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas for an authentic satellite signal.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising performing the comparison using at least one of aircraft position, aircraft heading, aircraft attitude, and satellite position to determine an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas for an authentic satellite signal.

19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising performing the comparison using an aircraft attitude to determine an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas for the spoofed satellite signal from a terrestrial source.

20. The method of claim 15 , further comprising performing the comparison using at least one of aircraft position, aircraft heading, aircraft attitude, and information on surrounding terrain to determine an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas for the spoofed satellite signal from a terrestrial source.

21. A method for detecting spoofed satellite signals, the method comprising:

receiving a signal via a plurality of antennas, wherein the plurality of antennas are positioned on an aircraft;

determining that the signal is a spoofed satellite signal based on a comparison of the signal strengths received via each of the plurality of antennas with a dynamic threshold; and

determining an unknown state when relative signal strengths associated with the signal does not meet the dynamic threshold for confirming that the signal is an authentic satellite signal nor for confirming that the signal is a spoofed satellite signal from a terrestrial source.

22. The method of claim 21 , further comprising using the dynamic threshold for determining that the signal is the spoofed satellite signal from a terrestrial source or an authentic satellite signal, wherein the dynamic threshold is based on at least one of: aircraft attitude, aircraft position, aircraft heading, and satellite position.

23. The method of claim 21 , further comprising performing the comparison using an aircraft attitude to determine an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas for an authentic satellite signal.

24. The method of claim 21 , further comprising performing the comparison using at least one of aircraft position, aircraft heading, aircraft attitude, and satellite position to determine an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas for an authentic satellite signal.

25. The method of claim 21 , further comprising performing the comparison using an aircraft attitude to determine an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas for the spoofed satellite signal from a terrestrial source.

26. The method of claim 21 , further comprising performing the comparison using at least one of aircraft position, aircraft heading, aircraft attitude, and information on surrounding terrain to determine an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas for the spoofed satellite signal from a terrestrial source.

27. A system for detecting spoofed satellite signals, the system comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a signal via a plurality of antennas, wherein the plurality of antennas are positioned on an aircraft;

a signal comparison module configured to compare the signal strengths received via the plurality of antennas with a dynamic threshold; and

a signal module configured to determine that the signal is a spoofed satellite signal when the signal strengths are compared against the dynamic threshold,

wherein the signal module determines a rejected state when relative signal strengths associated with the signals meet the dynamic threshold for confirming that the signal is the spoofed satellite signal from a terrestrial source.

28. The system of claim 27 , wherein the dynamic threshold is based on at least one of aircraft attitude, aircraft position, aircraft heading, and satellite position, or a combination of these.

29. The system of claim 27 , wherein the dynamic threshold comprises aircraft attitude, and wherein the signal comparison module determines an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas to identify an authentic satellite signal.

30. The system of claim 27 , wherein the dynamic threshold comprises one of aircraft position, aircraft heading, aircraft attitude, and satellite position, and wherein the signal comparison module determines an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas to identify an authentic satellite signal.

31. The system of claim 27 , wherein the dynamic threshold comprises one of aircraft position, aircraft heading, aircraft attitude, and information on surrounding terrain, and wherein the signal comparison module determines an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas for a spoofed satellite signal from a terrestrial source.

32. The system of claim 27 , wherein one of the plurality of antennas is positioned on an upper portion of the aircraft, and one of the antennas is positioned on a lower portion of the aircraft.

33. A system for detecting spoofed satellite signals, the system comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a signal via a plurality of antennas, wherein the plurality of antennas are positioned on an aircraft;

a signal comparison module configured to compare the signal strengths received via the plurality of antennas with a dynamic threshold; and

a signal module configured to determine that the signal is a spoofed satellite signal when the signal strengths are compared against the dynamic threshold,

wherein the signal module determines an unknown state when relative signal strengths associated with the signals do not meet the dynamic threshold for confirming that the signal is the authentic satellite signal, nor for confirming that the signal is the spoofed satellite signal from a terrestrial source.

34. The system of claim 33 , wherein the dynamic threshold is based on at least one of aircraft attitude, aircraft position, aircraft heading, and satellite position, or a combination of these.

35. The system of claim 33 , wherein the dynamic threshold comprises aircraft attitude, and wherein the signal comparison module determines an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas to identify an authentic satellite signal.

36. The system of claim 33 , wherein the dynamic threshold comprises one of aircraft position, aircraft heading, aircraft attitude, and satellite position, and wherein the signal comparison module determines an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas to identify an authentic satellite signal.

37. The system of claim 33 , wherein the dynamic threshold comprises one of aircraft position, aircraft heading, aircraft attitude, and information on surrounding terrain, and wherein the signal comparison module determines an expected relative signal strength between the plurality of antennas for a spoofed satellite signal from a terrestrial source.

38. The system of claim 33 , wherein one of the plurality of antennas is positioned on an upper portion of the aircraft, and one of the antennas is positioned on a lower portion of the aircraft.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 20, 2016
From: DAVIES, STEVEN P.
To: RAYTHEON COMPANY
Reel/Frame 040697/0344 →
Continuity (2)
Division 14066897 · Oct 30, 2013
Related Publication 20170102464A1 · Apr 13, 2017
Cited By (1)
US 12,601,844