Work

Assessing spoofing impact on GNSS receivers: Carrier-to-noise density ratio ( C / N 0 ) estimation

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: In the context of GNSS signal processing, the carrier-to-noise density ratio ( C / N 0 ) is a powerful metric for evaluating GNSS performance, analyzing interference effects, and monitoring reception quality. Although the modeling of C / N 0 in the presence of interference has been extensively discussed in the literature, the specific impact of spoofing remains unexplored. In fact, due to the similar structure between authentic and spoofed signals, the latter directly interferes with the true signal and cannot be considered as an equivalent additional and independent noise source. This paper investigates the impact of spoofing on both true and estimated C / N 0 and proposes analytical expressions for their biases in the presence of spoofing. It reveals situations where the correlator output becomes non-ergodic, inducing divergence between the true and estimated values, as well as significant C / N 0 degradation. Additionally, there is a high dependence on the receiver architecture (estimation method) and spoofing geometry. Finally, beyond GNSS spoofing applications, this study highlights the effect of non-ergodicity on estimation and underscores the importance of studying estimation under non-ergodic conditions.

Source: Signal Processing

DOI: 10.1016/j.sigpro.2025.110389

Authors: Emile Ghizzo, Julien Lesouple, Carl Milner

Institutions: École Nationale de l’Aviation Civile, Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO), Université de Toulouse

Language: English

Topic: GNSS positioning and interference

Subfield: Aerospace Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,190

Funder: Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile