5G Telecoms networks are reliant on GNSS for timing synchronisation but with GNSS increasingly under attack, Telecoms needs to be protected.
Given that GNSS provides an inexpensive absolute UTC reference, it's commonly used as the basis for timing and synchronisation within the Primary Reference Time Clocks deployed in public and private 5G mobile networks as well as within mission-critical hubs and macro cell sites.
If any of these important sites lose GNSS, a holdover mechanism can be used that falls back to precise atomic clocks, but such an approach adds significant cost and may only be able to retain synch for a few hours, perhaps a day at most. In the face of an attack on critical infrastructure by persistent jamming and electronic warfare this may not be sufficient, hence protecting GNSS becomes critical.
For primary timing facilities and mission-critical hubs, the best resilience can be achieved by employing a CRPA (controlled reception pattern antenna) such as Helix Geospace's CRPx - CRPx can handle multiple simultaneous interference and jamming sources as well as providing a military-grade level of jamming suppression.
For regional and aggregation nodes as well as key macro sites where the threat is less pressing, Helix Geospace provides the horizon nulling antenna (HNA).
The HNA is a high-performance GNSS antenna that suppresses signals below 15deg elevation hence can minimise the disruption caused by ground-based interference and jamming sources.
Through deployment of the CRPx and HNA resilient PNT solutions, the mobile network can be continuously locked to an absolute, trusted time reference provided by GNSS.
Such an approach is not just applicable to protecting public mobile infrastructure, but can also be employed for protecting private 5G networks used by other critical industries including oil and gas facilities, petrochemical plants, mining operations, maritime ports, and airports.
