Global navigation satellite signals can be spoofed by false signals, but special receivers can provide defenses against such attacks. The development of good spoofing defenses requires an understanding of the possible attack modes of a spoofer and the properties of those modes that can be exploited for defense purposes. Sets of attack methods and defense methods are described in detail. An attack/defense matrix is developed that documents which defense techniques are effective against the various attack techniques. Recommendations are generated to improve the offerings of commercial off-the-shelf receivers from the current situation, a complete lack of spoofing defenses, to a situation in which various levels of defense are present, some that add significant security for relatively little additional cost and others that add more security at costs that start to become appreciable.

An algorithm has been developed that maps pseudo-random number codes onto a set of sample times and stores the results in a bit-wise parallel format. It allows bit-wise parallel software correlation of code-division multiple-access signals to be carried out using long pseudo-random number codes. Bit-wise parallel algorithms speed up software correlation by operating in parallel on multiple samples. The new algorithm uses table look-ups to over-sample a pseudo-random number code. It reduces the PRN code memory requirements of a GPS software receiver by a factor of 3.8 or more, maintains operational efficiency, and keeps code distortion low.

A set of efficient algorithms for processing code-division multiple-access spread spectrum signals has been developed. They make use of bit-wise parallelism to process 32 samples simultaneously. These algorithms have been implemented in a real-time global positioning system software receiver. The receiver consists of a radio-frequency front end, a system of shift registers, a digital data acquisition card, and software that runs on a 1.73-GHz PC. The PC performs base-band mixing and pseudorandom noise code correlations in a manner that directly simulates a hardware digital correlator.