GNSS Interference Cases Handling and the Fight Against the Spread of Illegal GNSS Jammers by ANFR, the French Spectrum Management and Monitoring Authority

Abstract

With the ever-growing use of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems, like GPS, Galileo and Glonass) signals by public and safety services, research and scientific activities and economic sectors for positioning and timing services, the issue of radio frequency interference (RFI) affecting GNSS signals is becoming increasingly critical. In the meanwhile, GNSS jammers are easy to buy, notably on e-commerce web sites.In this context, ANFR (Agence nationale des fréquences), the French national authority in charge of spectrum planning, management and monitoring regards as very important protecting GNSS frequencies against RFI and fighting the spread of illegal GNSS jammers.General information is given as well as concrete examples of actions undertaken by ANFR. The latter include handling GNSS interference cases on the field, GNSS frequencies band monitoring, spread risk analysis for GNSS jammers, Market Surveillance, Research and Development activities for the detection of GNSS jammers, as well as Communication and Awareness-raising operations to educate the public on the risks of using jammers and the associated criminal penalties.In addition to the French spectrum agency’s experience, this paper includes information on other countries’ practices, through the analysis of a CEPT1 benchmark [1] – [3] conducted by Project Team FM22 (Frequency Monitoring and Enforcement) and Working Group FM (Frequency Management) of the ECC2.