Authenticated GNSS Timekeeping and Time Integrity

Objective

Develop receiver timekeeping concepts, integrity monitors and authentication-assisted methods that distinguish trusted GNSS system time from spoofed or corrupted time states.

Technical scope

• Formalize chronometer, timekeeper and date-keeper concepts and their receiver implementation boundaries.
• Define accuracy, integrity, continuity, availability and recovery performance for GNSS timekeeping.
• Assess how authenticated data and signals support knowledge of true GNSS system time and identify residual vulnerabilities.
• Develop monitors for time offsets, week and date anomalies, clock behavior and inconsistent constellation time relationships.

Expected deliverables

• Receiver timekeeping concept and requirements
• Time-integrity monitor suite
• Authentication and residual-risk assessment
• Appendix W and standards-ready technical contributions

About the GSDM project

Aircraft depend on GPS and Galileo every second they fly, and GNSS jamming and spoofing have become a real, daily threat to aviation around the world. GSDM is a multi-year research program led by ÉTS in partnership with the avionics manufacturer CMC Electronics, and funded through an NSERC and CRIAQ collaborative R&D grant. Its goal is to detect, mitigate and recover from GNSS jamming and spoofing in aviation receivers, and to help write the standards that will certify that equipment. As a GSDM student, you will work on problems that matter to real aircraft, alongside the industry engineers who build certified avionics. Your work will be tested on simulators, software-defined radios and real receiver data, and it can feed directly into international standards such as RTCA Appendix W. The program spans signal processing, detection theory, estimation, integrity monitoring, inertial navigation and systems engineering. Whether you like mathematics, algorithms or hands-on laboratory work, there is a project that will challenge you and prepare you for a career in aerospace, navigation or defence. We are looking for curious, rigorous and motivated students who want their research to make flying safer.