An Ad Hoc Networked System for the Real Time Detection, Classification and Localization of Jamming/Spoofing

Zephr is building a cooperative positioning system to improve the accuracy and resiliency of GNSS through the incorporation of measurements from multiple geographically dispersed devices/receivers. Building on this networked devices approach to positioning, Zephr proposes developing threat detection and localization features to optimize the platform for the warfighter. This will provide better situational awareness to the battlefield. Specifically, Zephr will demonstrate how commodity smartphones can be networked to enable the real time detection, classification and localization of spoofing and jamming signals. This will be demonstrated through the networked interconnection of Android based smartphones. Although, the same approaches would work with other pervasive commodity GNSS antennas used in the DoD (e.g. Garmin’s GPS 19 OEM puck, BAE’s RSR GPS, TRX’s NEON PT-MIL). The proposed client/server architecture of networked smartphones has proven to be an effective system for detecting, classifying and localizing jamming/spoofing in Ukraine and the Middle East in real world field testing. This approach can easily be integrated into the TAK ecosystem to leverage an existing network with hundreds of thousands of users as distributed antennas/sensors. Zephr believes this approach maximizes the opportunity for data collection critical to robust machine learning models to detect/classify and localize the rapidly evolving threat from jamming and spoofing. The establishment of this system will provide a platform to extend the system and methods to other signals of interest in the future (e.g. drones, artillery/gunshots).