Implementation of Automatic Aircraft Tracking with RTL-SDR

Abstract

To improve the efficiency, safety, and capacity of air space system, an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is one of the popular technologies used in air traffic surveillance. The ADS-B uses 1090 MHz band. ADS-B is complemented by existing radar-based technologies to locate aircraft. The coexistence of radar systems and ADS-B is a key system to detect and resolve conflicts in the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS). But, the major disadvantage of ADS-B is its implementation complexity and increase in cost without user-friendly. This paper focuses to reduce the complexity and cost of ADS-B system implementation in MATLAB with the help of Software Defined Radio (SDR). SDR is user-friendly and easy to handle aircraft information without increasing the cost. The ADS-B system implemented with SDR can receive the multiple numbers of aircraft information such as altitude, latitude, longitude, speed, and direction in real-time. Usage of SDR maximizes the information coverage with reliability and can achieve timely communication in Air Traffic Control (ATC) networks.