Method and system for radionavigation authentication

1. A method carried out in a radionavigation system, the radionavigation system comprising a receiver and a radionavigation infrastructure, the radionavigation infrastructure comprising a plurality of satellite-borne transmitters, and encryption component configured for communication with the transmitters and the receiver, the method comprising, for one or more given transmitters of the plurality of satellite-borne transmitters:

generating, in the radionavigation infrastructure, a series of keys k 2,i in respect of a predetermined authentication interval [0,T] of duration T and commencing at t=0;

generating, in the radionavigation infrastructure, a spreading code-encrypted signal e(t) from a first radionavigation signal s 1 (t) using a keystream K 1 (t), the keystream K 1 (t) being generated with a secret key k 1 of the radionavigation infrastructure;

generating, in the encryption component of the radionavigation infrastructure, a re-encrypted sequence R i using a keystream K 2,i generated with the series of keys k 2,i ;

transmitting, prior to t=0, by the encryption component, the re-encrypted sequence R i to the receiver;

transmitting, from the given transmitter, the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t);

transmitting, from one of the plurality of transmitters, the series of keys k 2,i ; and

receiving and storing, at the receiver, prior to t=0, the re-encrypted sequence R i ;

receiving, at the receiver, the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t);

receiving, at the receiver, the series of keys k 2,i ;

decrypting, at the receiver, the re-encrypted sequence R i using the series of keys k 2,i to obtain encrypted sequences E i ; and

correlating, at the receiver, at least portions of the received the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t) with the encrypted sequences E i and thereby generating a code phase measurement for the given transmitter.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

extracting, at the encryption component, from the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t), a plurality of encrypted sequences E i associated with respective periods of time within the predetermined authentication interval [0,T].

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein:

the re-encrypted sequence R′ i is generated from the extracted encrypted sequences E i using the keystream K 2,i , the re-encrypted sequence R′ i being associated with the given transmitter.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the re-encrypted sequence R i comprises generating a single re-encrypted sequence R′ i =K 1,i ⊕K 2,i , where K 1,i corresponds to the keystream generated from k 1 at [τi, τi+Δ].

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein decrypting, at the receiver, the re-encrypted sequence R i comprises obtaining encrypted sequences E i from

E i =R′ i ⊕C 1 ⊕K 2,li ,

where C 1 is the spreading code of the first radionavigation signal s 1 (t) from the given transmitter, which is known to the receiver.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the encryption component at which the re-encrypted sequence R i is generated is a ground-based server.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving authenticated satellite ephemeris and clock data embodying, for each of the transmitters, position and clock data thereof;

calculating a first receiver PVT solution from the position and clock data;

computing a second receiver PVT solution based on one or more of the code phase measurements;

comparing the first receiver PVT solution with the second receiver PVT solution and determining that the first receiver PVT solution is authenticated if the first receiver PVT solution differs from the second receiver PVT solution by less than a predetermined tolerance.

8. A method carried out in a radionavigation infrastructure of a radionavigation system, the radionavigation system further comprising a receiver, the radionavigation infrastructure comprising a plurality of satellite-borne transmitters and an encryption component configured for communication with the transmitters and the receiver, the method comprising, for one or more given transmitters of the plurality of satellite-borne transmitters:

generating, in the radionavigation infrastructure, a series of keys k 2,i in respect of a predetermined authentication interval [0,T] of duration T and commencing at t=0;

generating, in the radionavigation infrastructure, a spreading code-encrypted signal e(t) from a first radionavigation signal s 1 (t) using a keystream K 1 (t), the keystream K 1 (t) being generated with a secret key k 1 of the radionavigation infrastructure;

generating, in the encryption component of the radionavigation infrastructure, a re-encrypted sequence R i using a keystream K 2,i generated with the series of keys k 2,i ;

transmitting, prior to t=0, by the encryption component, the re-encrypted sequence R i to the receiver; and

transmitting, from the given transmitter, the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t);

transmitting, from one of the plurality of transmitters, the series of keys k 2,i .

9. A method carried out in a receiver of a radionavigation system, the radionavigation system comprising the receiver and a radionavigation infrastructure, the radionavigation infrastructure comprising a plurality of satellite-borne transmitters, and encryption component configured for communication with the transmitters and the receiver,

wherein the radionavigation infrastructure is configured for

generating a series of keys k 2,i in respect of a predetermined authentication interval [0,T] of duration T and commencing at t=0, and

for generating a spreading code-encrypted signal e(t) from a first radionavigation signal s 1 (t) using a keystream K 1 (t), the keystream K 1 (t) being generated with a secret key k 1 of the radionavigation infrastructure, and

wherein the encryption component of the radionavigation infrastructure is configured for

generating a re-encrypted sequence R i using a keystream K 2,i generated with the series of keys k 2,i , and

for transmitting, prior to t=0, the re-encrypted sequence R i to the receiver, and

wherein the given transmitter is configured for transmitting the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t), and

wherein one of the plurality of transmitters is configured for transmitting the series of keys k 2,i , the method comprising:

receiving and storing, prior to t=0, the re-encrypted sequence R i ;

receiving the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t);

receiving the series of keys k 2,i ;

decrypting the re-encrypted sequence R i using the series of keys k 2,i to obtain encrypted sequences E i ; and

correlating at least portions of the received the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t) with the encrypted sequences E i and thereby generating a code phase measurement for the given transmitter.

10. A radionavigation system configured to perform the method of claim 1 .

11. A radionavigation infrastructure configured to perform the method of claim 8 .

12. A receiver configured to perform the method of claim 9 .

13. A method carried out in a radionavigation system, the radionavigation system comprising a receiver and a radionavigation infrastructure, the radionavigation infrastructure comprising a plurality of satellite-borne transmitters and a server configured for communication with the transmitters and the receiver, the method comprising, for one or more given transmitters of the plurality of satellite-borne transmitters:

generating, in the radionavigation infrastructure, a series of keys k 2,i in respect of a predetermined authentication interval [0,T] of duration T and commencing at t=0;

generating, in the radionavigation infrastructure, a spreading code-encrypted signal e(t) from a first radionavigation signal s 1 (t) using a keystream K 1 (t), the keystream K 1 (t) being generated with a secret key k 1 of the radionavigation infrastructure;

providing, at the server, a re-encrypted sequence R i having been obtained using a keystream K 2,i generated with the series of keys k 2,i ;

transmitting, from the given transmitter, the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t);

transmitting, from one of the plurality of transmitters, the series of keys k 2,i ; and

receiving, at the receiver, the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t);

sampling, at the receiver, the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t) to obtain a digitalized snapshot S(τi, τi+Δ) of the received spreading code-encrypted signal e(t);

transmitting, at the receiver, the digitalized snapshot S(τi, τi+Δ) to the server;

transmitting, from one of the plurality of transmitters, the series of keys k 2,i to the server;

decrypting, at the server, the re-encrypted sequence R i using the series of keys k 2,i to obtain encrypted sequences E i ; and

at the server, correlating the received digitalized snapshot S(τi, τi+Δ) of the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t) with the encrypted sequences E i and thereby generating a code phase measurement for the given transmitter.

14. A method carried out in a radionavigation infrastructure of a radionavigation system, the radionavigation system further comprising a receiver, the radionavigation infrastructure comprising a plurality of satellite-borne transmitters and a server configured for communication with the transmitters and the receiver, the method comprising, for one or more given transmitters of the plurality of satellite-borne transmitters:

generating, in the radionavigation infrastructure, a series of keys k 2,i in respect of a predetermined authentication interval [0,T] of duration T and commencing at t=0;

generating, in the radionavigation infrastructure, a spreading code-encrypted signal e(t) from a first radionavigation signal s 1 (t) using a keystream K 1 (t), the keystream K 1 (t) being generated with a secret key k 1 of the radionavigation infrastructure;

providing, at the server, a re-encrypted sequence R i having been obtained using a keystream K 2,i generated with the series of keys k 2,i ;

transmitting, from the given transmitter, the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t) to the receiver;

transmitting, from one of the plurality of transmitters, the series of keys k 2,i to the server;

sampling the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t) to obtain a digitalized snapshot S(τi, τi+Δ) of the received spreading code-encrypted signal e(t);

receiving at the server from the receiver a digitalized snapshot S(τi, τi+Δ) of the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t); and

decrypting, at the server, the re-encrypted sequence R i using the series of keys k 2,i to obtain encrypted sequences E i ; and

the method further comprising, at the server, correlating the received digitalized snapshot S(τi, τi+Δ) of the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t) with the encrypted sequences E i and thereby generating a code phase measurement for the given transmitter.

15. A method carried out in a receiver of a radionavigation system, the radionavigation system comprising the receiver and a radionavigation infrastructure, the radionavigation infrastructure comprising a plurality of satellite-borne transmitters and a server configured for communication with the transmitters and the receiver,

wherein the radionavigation infrastructure is configured for

generating a series of keys k 2,i in respect of a predetermined authentication interval [0,T] of duration T and commencing at t=0 and for

generating a spreading code-encrypted signal e(t) from a first radionavigation signal s 1 (t) using a keystream K 1 (t), the keystream K 1 (t) being generated with a secret key k 1 of the radionavigation infrastructure, and

wherein a re-encrypted sequence R i is providing at the server, the re-encrypted sequence R i having been obtained using a keystream K 2,i generated with the series of keys k 2,i ,and

wherein the given transmitter is configured for transmitting the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t), and

wherein one of the plurality of transmitters is configured for transmitting the series of keys k 2,i to the server, the method comprising:

receiving the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t);

sampling the spreading code-encrypted signal e(t) to obtain a digitalized snapshot S(τi, τi+Δ) of the received spreading code-encrypted signal e(t);

transmitting the digitalized snapshot S(τi, τi+Δ) to the server.