15 April 2010
In GPS World this month, Sally Basker Director of R&RNAV, reports on a meeting held at the National Physical Laboratory in the United Kingdom on the February 23rd 2010. The meeting titled, “GPS Jamming and Interference: A Clear and Present Danger,” was organized by the Digital Systems Knowledge Transfer Network.
The meeting was well attended and details of speakers and discussions are available from the GPS World article.
Sally Basker concludes that “GNSS interference is a real and present danger. It is probably more widespread than generally assumed, and it is here to stay. We can harden our GNSS systems with improved receiver and antenna design, but this will mitigate only some interference, not all. The problem is cost. Cheap — and vulnerable — GNSS receivers will inevitably find their way, unseen, to the heart of our critical infrastructure. We need resilient positioning, navigation, and timing based on independent and complementary systems and sensors. Demonstrating independence is vital but not necessarily straightforward, and true independence costs money. The greatest challenge is helping policymakers understand the risks of relying on vulnerable systems and the need for resilience."
