Software-Defined Transmitter to Support Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast

Aviation is a rapidly developed transportation system. Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is a key technology to support surveillance in the future air traffic system in which the number of airspace users is increased significantly due to the wide usage of new vehicle types. Airplane transponder of mode 1090ES is one of the most common implementation of ADS-B concept in the global market. Implementation of new types of airspace users required to reduce total equipment cost and minimize weight and size of on-board equipment with ensuring required level of flight safety. Therefore, in the paper we consider implementation of low-cost Software-Defined Transmitters to support ADS-B capability. Developed software is used for coding user data and generating the sequence of digital messages to support basic surveillance operations. Validation of developed software has been done on HackRF hardware and checked with the ground station based on RaspberyPI and RTL-SDR.