Orolia selected for Galileo resilient time receiver initiative

The European GNSS Agency (GSA) has awarded a grant of up to €1.7 million to resilient positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) solution provider Orolia to develop a resilient time and frequency receiver to protect critical GNSS-reliant systems. The Galileo Authenticated Robust Timing System (GEARS) project will provide accurate and highly robust Galileo-based time and frequency data for critical infrastructure. The project should deliver its robust Galileo timing solution by 2021.

Critical infrastructure such as telecommunications, broadcast, data centres, transportation, energy generation and distribution, and finance all rely on GNSS signals. However, detailed studies have documented the vulnerability of this infrastructure to threats from signal jamming or spoofing. This is where the GEARS project comes in.

Accurate and robust time

The GEARS solution will leverage the new Galileo navigation data authentication signal and utilise Orolia’s portfolio of interference detection and mitigation capabilities to increase resistance to jamming. Finally, it will develop a new approach for GNSS timing system protection by defining minimum testing criteria to qualify robustness against threats.

“Once adopted, this will help ensure that Galileo’s GNSS timing and synchronisation services are resilient to intentional and unintentional interference, or denial of service, for all critical infrastructure operations,” said Thierry Delhomme, EMEA General Manager at Orolia. “Orolia is honoured to support Resilient PNT initiatives for GSA and Galileo,” he said.

Key role for Galileo

“We have only scratched the surface of the potential of Galileo for Timing and Synchronisation solutions,” said GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides. “Galileo has a key role to play in the management of critical infrastructure, and by developing a Galileo-based timing receiver for this infrastructure we are enabling a wealth of solutions to secure the provision of critical applications to all citizens in important markets, such as telecommunication, energy and finance, once again responding to user needs with space technologies,” he said, adding: “I look forward to the first prototype.”

And this: Time as a service with Galileo

The two-year grant agreement with the GSA will be coordinated by Orolia, collaborating with four European partners: FDC (France), NLR (Netherlands Aerospace Centre, Netherlands), NLS - FGI (National Land Survey of Finland – Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, Finland) and NavCert (Germany). The prototype to be developed and validated will embed all relevant new technologies and innovations to ensure maximum robustness for Galileo’s timing receivers by 2021.

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