Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine November 2017 - 34

Feature Article:

DOI. No. 10.1109/MAES.2017.170020

Addressing Vulnerabilities of the CNS Infrastructure to
Targeted Radio Interference
Okuary Osechas, Mohamad Mostafa, Thomas Gräupl, Michael Meurer, German
Aerospace Center, Institute of Communications and Navigation, Wessling, Germany

INTRODUCTION
Communication, navigation, and surveillance (CNS) technology
is the backbone of modern-day air traffic management (ATM),
containing a wide variety of radio systems that include ground
stations, satellites, and aviation users. With the continuing development of software-defined radio, CNS systems are faced with a
fundamentally new challenge that was not known at the time many
of the systems were designed: software-defined radio has simplified the generation of radio signals with arbitrarily configurable
modulation schemes and waveforms, to the point in which it has
become financially accessible for private individuals.
Most state-of-the-art CNS systems are based on signals that
are standardized; thus, it has become possible for operators of software-defined radio to impersonate legitimate CNS participants.
Because most CNS systems were not designed with this threat
in mind, many are incapable of detecting an illegitimate signal
source autonomously. Proof-of-concept implementations of such
interventions have been presented for several systems, where an
illegitimate transmitter impersonates a terrestrial station [1], a satellite, or even a set of satellites [2].
The aim is to highlight the existence of vulnerabilities in the
CNS infrastructure, but more importantly, to discuss the principles
underlying the vulnerabilities and propose potential strategies for
addressing and mitigating the vulnerabilities. It is not the intent of
the authors to provide instructions for disrupting CNS; as such, no
attack mechanics are discussed. Instead, the discussion focuses on
topics for future research and development, aimed at mitigating the
impact of radio interference.
Two fundamental types of interference events are considered.
In one case, a radio source broadcasts power without replicating specific signal waveforms, which is commonly referred to as
"jamming" [3]. In the other case, the interfering source broadcasts
signals specifically engineered to impersonate legitimate participants of the CNS environment, commonly known as "spoofing."
Authors' current address: German Aerospace Center, Institute
of Communications and Navigation, Muenchener Strasse 20,
82234 Wessling, Germany, E-mail: (okuary@gmail.com).
Manuscript received January 19, 2017, revised June 23, 2017,
and ready for publication August 6, 2017.
Review handled by K. Kramer.
0885/8985/17/$26.00 © 2017 IEEE
34

Although some forms of radio interference may not fall into either category, this classification covers a significant portion of the
threat posed by illegitimate sources, as understood today.

RELATED WORK
In the European research context, several ongoing research projects are dedicated to the topic of ATM security, and vulnerabilities
of the CNS infrastructure are, therefore, within the scope of these
projects. One of them is project GAMMA [4], sponsored by the
European Commission in the context of the Single European Sky
program. Another project is ARIEL [5], which is a regional effort
sponsored by the state of Bavaria (Germany). In both cases, the
focus has shifted to topics other than radio vulnerability, as more
fundamental questions are being addressed first, such as design-

Table of Acronyms
ATM

Air traffic management

CNS

Communication, navigation, and
surveillance

CSMA

Carrier sense multiple access

D8PSK

Eight-ary differential phase-shift keying

DLR

German Aerospace Center

DoA

Direction of arrival

EIRP

Equivalent isotropically radiated power

GBAS

Ground-based augmentation system

GNSS

Global navigation satellite system

PSR

Primary surveillance radar

RF

Radio frequency

RFI

Radio frequency interference

SIR

Signal-to-interference ratio

SSR

Secondary surveillance radio

VDB

VHF data broadcast

VDL2

VHF data link mode 2

VHF

Very high frequency

IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE

NOVEMBER 2017



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