SkyPos: Real-world evaluation of self-positioning with aircraft signals for IoT devices

Abstract

Positioning based on aircraft signals has been proposed as an alternative to satellite-based positioning systems (e.g. GPS). However, so far, no deployment of this technique exists, and the real-world performance remains unclear. This paper contributes at better understanding the performance tradeoffs under realistic conditions. We implement SkyPos, a localization system for GPS-denied areas or location integrity that opportunistically uses the large availability of aircraft signals to self-localize receivers. We analyze SkyPos with data collected from hundreds of sensors and thousands of aircraft around Europe. Our results show that we can achieve median accuracy down to 10\,m in seconds, enabling almost real-time positioning or location verification using aircraft signals at scale.