Enhancing Resilience and Accuracy in Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Systems and e-conspicuity solutions

This Destination includes activities addressing safe and smart mobility services for passengers and goods.

This Destination contributes directly to the Strategic Plan’s Key Strategic Orientations ‘Green transition’, ‘Digital transition’ and ‘A more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe’.

In line with the Strategic Plan, the overall expected impact of this Destination is to contribute to the ‘Multimodal systems and services for climate-neutral, smart and safe mobility’.

The main impacts to be generated by topics under this Destination are:

Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM)

1. Improved mobility for people and goods in all weather conditions, ensuring safe, shared, inclusive, affordable, attractive, and accessible door-to-door mobility, for private and public transport in mixed traffic and confined areas, as well as open roads.
2. Seamless integration of CCAM solutions into existing transport ecosystems to ensure interoperability, promote multimodality, enhance traffic safety, catering to diverse user needs and behaviours.
3. Resilient, climate-neutral, and sustainable mobility solutions with reduced carbon footprints, resulting in greener, less congested, cost-effective, and demand-responsive transport systems.
4. Increased competitiveness of the transport system using secure and hyper-advanced technologies such as real-time perception, situational awareness, and decision-making systems, based on trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (including Edge and Generative AI), satellite navigation, smart traffic management, and tools for software development for CCAM applications.

Multimodal and sustainable transport systems for passengers and goods

1. Enhanced resilience of transport networks through improved operational efficiency for both passenger and intermodal freight transport, future-proofed mobility systems supporting EU competitiveness while ensuring affordable and accessible transport for all passengers.

Safety and resilience

1. Drastic reduction in road fatalities for all types of users, especially on rural areas
2. Improved resilience of the public transport system via the use of AI
3. Advanced technologies and methods for improved reliability in complex environments for aviation

Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in both Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) and Innovation Actions (IAs) falling under this destination. For additional information please see “Restrictions on the participation of legal entities established in China” found in General Annex B of the General Annexes.

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Development of solutions integrating 5G networks, supported by advanced signal processing techniques (e.g. AI-Enhanced Signal Processing) to improve the accuracy of PNT systems, as GNSS backup solutions to enhance resilience in contested environments, including filtering noise and interference from signals to enhance the precision of location data, and appropriate post-quantum cryptographic measures to enhance resilience against emerging threats.
• Integration with Other Technologies: Development of solutions leveraging Internet of Things (sensors, communication signals, AI-enhanced processing), and other sensing techniques to provide redundant and resilient navigation solutions and to enhance capabilities and applications, especially at low altitude airspace.
• E-conspicuity: Definition of mobile communication performance requirements for e-conspicuity, assessment of network performance and determination of minimum availability requirements for mobile telephony for collision to support collision avoidance for a drone and manned aircraft.
• Analysis of policy and regulatory aspects to better understand the legal and regulatory issues surrounding the deployment and use of PNT systems, including concerns related to privacy, spectrum management, international cooperation, and harmonisation of regulatory frameworks and shared technologies.

Scope:

Today’s Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services are primarily provided through Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) that tend to have weak signals and are vulnerable to jamming and spoofing.

This topic addresses alternative PNT methods that are essential to provide fallback options in case of GNSS signal loss or degradation. Great benefit is expected through integration of PNT technology with rapidly emerging technologies, such as 5G/6G and Internet of Things (IoT). The aim is to investigate innovative solutions for PNT – including the impact on the regulatory framework, integrating advanced 5G technologies and IoT to act as complementary, redundant, secure and resilient navigation solutions for aviation, including UAS, in challenging environments.

The topic also addresses e-conspicuity, aiming to enhance pilot awareness notably at lower altitudes in U-space airspace in order to reduces collision risk in general aviation, where most small aircraft rely on see-and-avoid. Mobile telephony, with minimum network performance requirements, can provide a safe, affordable communication solution for U-space entry and flight safety.

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