Enabling High-Integrity Vehicular Satellite Navigation Operations via Automatic Gain Control

Automatic Gain Control (AGC) is a commonly found component in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers. AGC's intended function is to dynamically adjust the gain of an input signal to mitigate quantization losses in the receiver. However, the AGC has also received attention as a possible method for incoming signal strength measurement via its dynamic gain adjustment metric. The purpose of this paper is to assess the validity of this measurement method by characterizing the AGC response of multiple COTS receivers to a variety of signals, to discuss the possible application of this hypothesized relationship to GNSS signal interference detection and mitigation, and to explore how AGC's use for interference detection can help to improve the reliability of satellite navigation operations for both human-driven and autonomous vehicles.