Statistical analysis and modeling of inter-satellite PRN code interference in GPS L1 signals
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Date
2025-06
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University of New Brunswick
Abstract
One cause of Global Positioning System (GPS) interference is the cross-correlation of Coarse/Acquisition (C/A) codes from different satellites, occurring when their signals, affected by Doppler shifts, interfere with each other. Each GPS satellite transmits a unique C/A code, a pseudo-random noise (PRN) sequence, modulating the L1 carrier signal. With high-sampling-rate receivers from the Canadian High Arctic Ionospheric Network (CHAIN), it has become possible to detect and analyze inter-satellite interference by capturing fine-scale variations in GPS signal phase and amplitude. These variations often render a beat frequency pattern in phase and amplitude. FFTs of the events show peak frequencies matching the Doppler shift differences between satellite signals. A statistical study was conducted on 12 months of collected events. A model was developed to simulate these beat patterns, and its results reasonably agreed with observational data. The findings may aid in filtering such interference from scintillation and multipath studies.