Sunnyvale, CA, May 14th 2025
For the first time the oneNav L5-direct™ receiver was flown on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle through a simulated Electronic Warfare GPS signal interference field. The assessment was conducted on February 12th by the Emerging Technology Lab at US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). This non-classified evaluation replicated battlefield conditions such as variable speeds, altitudes, and maneuvers, as well as robust L5 signal interference.
Assessment setup
The assessment system included two GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) devices secured to the UAV along with an on-board navigation computer and an on-board interference device. Two additional sources of interference were located on the ground.
Block Diagram 1. A simplified block diagram of the assessment setup
On-board navigation computer integrated data from GNSS 1 and GNSS 2 receivers to determine and maintain a vehicle’s position and guide its movement.
GNSS 1 Competitor L1/L5 dual band receiver that uses the L1C/A signal to get a first fix then adds L5 signals.
GNSS 2 L5-direct on an FPGA that exclusively utilizes the modern L5-band signals for both acquisition and tracking.
Two ground interference devices and one on-board intereference device producing L5 signal interference.
Image 1. L5-direct FPGA attached to the assessment UAV
The in-flight assessment, conducted on a UAV under real world dynamic and RF interference conditions, validated that oneNav L5-direct is independent of legacy GNSS signals like L1 and L2. While conventional dual-band receivers rely on L1 acquisition before transitioning to L5 tracking, oneNav’s solution exclusively utilizes modern signals for both acquisition and tracking. Other market solutions claim direct-to-L5 capability, but they can acquire only in open sky using the strongest L5 signals and lose track when it rains or snows. oneNav’s technology stands alone as the world’s only fully L1-independent solution.
The Emerging Technology Lab implemented comprehensive RF interference protocols, including both ground-based and airborne signal interference across multiple L5 frequencies. L5-direct maintained tracking capabilities during L5/E5a signal interference centered at 1176.45MHz. This superior performance can be attributed to oneNav’s innovative wideband RF frontend architecture, which enables simultaneous processing across an extensive frequency range. The system leverages Galileo’s dual side band configuration (E5a and E5b), automatically transitioning to E5b when E5a experiences interference—a capability unique to oneNav’s technology. Upon detecting RF interference, the receiver dynamically transitions to independent E5a and E5b signal tracking. A brief six second delay was observed during this transition. The delay reflects the receiver’s three-second lock loss on the E5a sideband, followed by a three-second acquisition time of the E5b signal. There is a 10 dB power differential between E5a and E5b signals and oneNav’s capability to track the latter underscores the high sensitivity performance of the L5-direct receiver.
Key highlights from the in-flight assessment conducted by the Emerging Technology Lab include:
- The oneNav L5-direct GNSS acquired, tracked, and provided location to the drone flight computer under actual flight dynamics and through L5 band signal interference conditions
- Direct acquisition and tracking using only the L5-band signals was demonstrated, confirming immunity to L1 signal interference
- oneNav GNSS demonstrated resilience to L5 in-band signal interference using typical EW power levels. When the L5/E5a sideband was disrupted the GNSS receiver quickly adapted by switching to use the E5b sideband
- When signal interference was increased to block both the E5a and E5b sidebands, the oneNav receiver demonstrated good stability and responsiveness into and out of the blocked regions
- Continuous tracking functioned well with BeiDou constellation off and the Almanac on or off
oneNav’s L5-direct technology, originally designed for the diverse needs of consumer applications like wearables, phones, and surface vehicles, readily adapted to the rigorous demands of defense applications. This adaptability allows for rapid customization and deployment across a wide spectrum of platforms from everyday consumer devices to advanced applications requiring robust performance in challenging environments, such as those with rapid multi-axis acceleration and complex flight dynamics.
Because L5-direct utilizes signals exclusively within the L5-band, it can fully leverage the benefits of these advanced signals. L5-band signals offer greater power than L1 signals, exhibit a 30-fold increase in resistance to RF interference, and possess a 7-fold reduction in RF interference radius. According to Prof. Brad Parkinson, a GNSS specialist who also carries an unofficial title of ‘Father of GPS’: “The L5 signal, at 1176 MHz, is clearly the most capable of the civil GPS signals in terms of jam resistance.” Besides Prof. Parkinson, there are other experts in the field who recognize the advantages of using L5 only receiver. Dr. John W. Betz, former member of the US Air Force Scientific Advisory Board MITRE Fellow Emeritus at the MITRE corporation, and Logan Scott, a member of the President’s Natio`nal PNT Advisory Board, independently conducted expert analysis of the resilience of L5 vs L1 bands.
Currently implemented on FPGA architecture, a forthcoming L5-direct ASIC will deliver substantial performance improvements, including a 6x enhancement in acquisition capabilities and 2-3x improvement in tracking performance.
Government personnel seeking access to official government reports should contact PEO-FW for distribution. USSOCOM, PEO-FW, or ETL cannot validate claims made by oneNav.
Please contact oneNav to learn more about L5-direct technology.
About oneNav
Based in California, oneNav is developing L5-direct™ GNSS receiver technology for smartphones, wearables, drones, tracking devices, and more and has built a large L5-band patent portfolio. oneNav’s team comprises top GNSS experts from Qualcomm, Apple, Intel, SnapTrack, SiRF, Trimble and eRide. With extensive experience in GNSS system architecture, multipath mitigation, signal processing, ASIC design and AI/machine learning, oneNav engineers have designed and built billions of GNSS receivers on the market today and have collectively filed over 300 career GNSS patents.
Media Contact:
Izabela Novacka
L5-direct@onenav.ai