GPS spoofing detection and mitigation using Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control system

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) like the Global Positioning System (GPS) are susceptible to electronic interference which threatens the reliability of the systems outputs, precise time and localization. Interference comes from natural and predatory sources in the form of increased in-band noise and structured attacks. The structured attack, called spoofing, is designed to trick the receiver into reporting an incorrect navigation solution as if it were accurate. Modern automobiles are becoming more reliant on GPS for localization, automation, and safety. Vehicles are also equipped with a variety of sensors (e.g. Radars, Lidars, wheel encoders) that provide situational awareness which may be leveraged in a GPS spoofing detection scheme. The proposed spoofing detection and mitigation system relies on an existing Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) system to provide inter-vehicle ranging and data sharing. The inter-vehicle ranges are used to detect a spoofing attack, and the mitigation system removes the attacking signal from the incoming data stream. The spoofing detection and removal system is tested using data recorded with a fielded CACC system on two commercial trucks. Intermediate frequency (IF) GPS data is collected during the test. Since live sky spoofing is legal, the IF data recording allows for post process spoofing injection in a controlled environment. In post process, the spoofing signal is shown to “capture” the onboard GPS receiver. The proposed system uses the spoofed IF GPS data along with recorded observables from the CACC system to detection and remove the attack.