Mission-critical networks and other essential enterprise infrastructure can only maintain reliable operation if they continuously receive accurate timing information from network time servers, but these servers can be vulnerable to Global Positioning System (GPS) jamming and spoofing, a cybersecurity threat. Microchip Technology announced a solution to this problem with the integration of its BlueSky technology signal-anomaly detection software into the SyncServer S600 Series network time server and instruments.
Microchip is the first to fully integrate GPS jamming and spoofing detection and protection, in combination with local Radio Frequency (RF) data logging and analysis, inside a time server. The SyncServer S600 Series Stratum 1 instrument along with the BlueSky technology's intelligent jamming and spoofing detectors continuously monitor local GPS constellation health and examine GPS and local RF signal integrity to assure validity.
If an anomaly is detected, the solution sends an alarm and, if necessary, the SyncServer instrument can be shifted to alternative time sources or an internal oscillator. This protects ongoing timing outputs while ensuring only minimal, predictable timing degradation to vital network and business operations in applications ranging from banking and stock trading to electric utilities and aerospace and defense.
The SyncServer BlueSky technology, which provides continuous detection and protection against GPS jamming and spoofing. includes a comprehensive suite of logging, charting and measuring tools to characterise local GPS satellite signals as well as local RF events over time. This can help enable correlating, troubleshooting, identifying and correcting local anomalies, some of which may be related to consumer electronics, or nearby RF signal broadcasts. The solution is optionally available through the SyncServer v4.1 software release that provides a selection of features found in Microchip’s proven BlueSky GNSS Firewall solution for third-party GPS receivers and critical infrastructure.
