The Need

Reliable positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) increasingly depends on access to resilient, high‑integrity signals. Traditional GNSS systems face vulnerabilities, including signal blockage, jamming, spoofing, and limited geometric diversity. Meanwhile, emerging low Earth orbit (LEO) megaconstellations broadcast abundant signals but do not disclose critical parameters such as ephemerides, clock states, or signal structures. Industry lacks a unified method to exploit these diverse, proprietary LEO signals for navigation. This technology directly addresses that gap.

The Technology

OSU engineers have developed a novel technology that provides a blind, modulation‑agnostic method for extracting navigation observables from unknown LEO satellite signals by identifying and exploiting naturally occurring repetitive sequences (“beacons”) in the downlink waveform. Using spectral cross‑correlation, a Kalman‑filter‑based Doppler tracker, and a beacon estimation engine, the system locks onto satellite‑specific features without prior knowledge of signal structure. The resulting Doppler and code‑phase measurements enable precise positioning even with rapidly varying LEO geometries.

Commercial Applications

• Vehicular navigation, manned or unmanned, including aerial, ground, and maritime.
• Consumer devices (smartphones, tablets, wearables).
• GNSS‑resilient navigation systems for defense, aerospace, and critical infrastructure,

Benefits/Advantages

• Modulation‑agnostic: Works across LEO constellations (Starlink, OneWeb, Iridium NEXT, Orbcomm) without disclosed signal specifications.
• High precision: Achieves meter‑level accuracy using blind Doppler and beacon extraction.
• Robust to dynamics: Maintains tracking under high Doppler shifts and rates inherent to LEO.
• Enables PNT resilience: Provides navigation capability even in GNSS‑denied or degraded environments.