Research
Embark on a journey of discovery with our cutting-edge research initiatives. At CARNATIONS, we are dedicated to pushing the boundaries of knowledge through innovative and impactful research. Our diverse range of projects spans various disciplines, driven by a collective passion for advancing understanding and finding solutions to real-world challenges. Explore the frontiers of science, technology, and beyond as we strive to make meaningful contributions that shape the future. Join us on this intellectual exploration and witness the transformative power of research at CARNATIONS.
GNSS Anti-Jam & Anti-Spoof Antenna Technology for Multimodal Transportation
One strategy for toughening receivers is direction-of-arrival sensing. The technique relies on a multi-element GNSS antenna or the equivalent. Such techniques are uniquely well suited to the detection and mitigation of jamming and spoofing attacks on land, air, and sea vehicles. We have examined and developed several multi-element technologies.
Receiver Signal Processing to Resist GNSS Jamming and Spoofing Attacks
This project will follow two paths in parallel, both involving advanced Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver signal processing. The first is focused on defending against spoofing, the second against jamming.
Defending Against GNSS Jamming and Spoofing by Multi-Sensor Integration
While GNSS is the primary means to provide absolute position information in transportation systems, radio frequency methods to detect anomalous GNSS signals may not enable their exclusion in all events. The multiple sensors incorporated into advanced vehicles and transportation systems offer unique opportunities to combat nefarious activities such as GNSS jamming and spoofing to maintain PNT accuracy and integrity. This project will involve three research directions related to GNSS multi-sensor augmentation.
Radio-Frequency Signal Augmentation to Reduce PNT Jamming and Spoofing Risks
GNSS is vulnerable to jamming because the power of GNSS signals received near the Earth’s surface is extremely weak, as low as a tenth of a millionth of a billionth of a Watt. Higher power signals from Low-Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites intended for communication can be used as an opportunistic means of navigation, but only with significant risks because the LEO service providers have no commitment to navigation users. In contrast, recently-modernized and emerging dedicated LEO constellations can provide positioning navigation and timing (PNT) with quantifiable performance. In particular, CARNATIONS industrial partners Satelles, Inc. and Xona Space Systems, two PNT LEO satellite constellation operators, provide signals that are secure, powerful, reliable, and independent of GNSS. This project aims at (1) designing LEO satellite-based resilient PNT (R-PNT) algorithms and (2) evaluating them for transportation applications.
Towards Resilient V2X Communications over 5G/6G Networks
Enabling mission critical communication for vehicular networks can be achieved by exploiting 5G and 6G wireless systems. However, given that such systems are primarily designed with high rate services in mind (e.g., multimedia), ensuring continuous availability of the communication link for V2X communication is a major challenge. The goal of the first year of this project is to explore the use of resilience as a metric for guaranteeing the operation of V2X links under different dynamics of the environment. This will create a seed for the next year of this project that can exploit the developed fundamentals to investigate other avenues like integrated sensing and communications.
Multi-Vehicle/Infrastructure Jammer/Spoofer Detection and Localization
This project will follow three paths in parallel, all focused on developing vehicle strategies that provide improved knowledge of and resilience to positioning uncertainty, in particular, of the potential risk of spoofing. The first path is focused on developing resilient connected and automated vehicle (CAV) applications given uncertain PNT services; the second is developing resilience techniques through a multi-agent community approach; and the third is to conduct research on collaborative radio-frequency interference (RFI) localization.
Threat Models and Use Cases for Multimodal Transportation
This project will leverage our experience with aviation interference evaluation scenarios for adaptation to surface transportation. Airborne receivers already have requirements to maintain integrity in the presence of RFI—specifically, to not generate errors that threaten user safety with a greater-than-allowed probability—even at high RFI power levels. Further, the receivers are required to return to normal operations within specified time periods after removal of the interfering signals.
R-PNT Virtual “War-Gaming” in a Multimodal Agent-based Simulation 
This project will entail developing a virtual testbed for modeling various cyber and cyber-physical attacks and designing defense mechanisms to mitigate the effects of these attacks. As part of this effort, simulations will be conducted to evaluate the network-wide effect of such attacks and to evaluate the adequacy of various defense mechanisms in resolving and recovering from these attacks.
Comprehensive Testing and Evaluation of Resilient PNT Systems
This project aims at testing the anti-jamming and anti-spoofing concepts, systems, and methods developed by CARNATIONS. The challenge with such experimentation is that open-sky broadcasting of radio-frequency (RF) signals at Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) frequencies is illegal, even for research purposes. In this project, we will (1) leverage existing test facilities at our academic institutions, (2) perform testing during opportunistic jamming events and during government-organized experimentations, and (3) develop new anti-interference testing capabilities.