Investigating R-Mode Signals for the VDE System

As GNSS signals are not always reliable and subject to jamming and spoofing, it is desired to have alternative means of maritime navigation. One approach for that is to equip communication systems on the shore with the option to transmit ranging signals (R-mode), which vessels can use to determine their position. In this paper, we show that by using the VDES system, which is currently in the process of standardization, it is possible to achieve significantly better ranging performance than by utilizing the Automatic Identification System (AIS) for this purpose.