Live Aircraft Detection with Mode-S Transponder Using RTL-SDR

Abstract

Abstract-Air Traffic Control (ATC) is done by air traffic controllers at the ground station which guides the aircraft on the ground and controlled airspace. ATC is required to prevent collision and organize the air traffic flow. The technology used for ATC was radar, but now there is a new technology called ADS-B. ADS-B involves airplanes constantly sending, in real time, flight information and position. It plays a vital role in security and defense. ADS-B is "automatic" which means it requires no pilot or external input. It is "dependent" which means it depends on the data from the aircraft's navigation system. ADS-B basically is an extended version of the Mode-S system which has both primary and secondary surveillance radars. The flights that are equipped with ADS-B will broadcast their positions once in every second. The traffic controllers and other ADS-B aircrafts, receives this information which includes the flights identification, altitude, speed, and projected path of the flight. Encryption is not performed on this information sent via ADS-B therefore it is available for anybody can receive. Our project mainly deals with the reception of these signals and detecting the aircrafts location. Later Google maps are used to track the airplane live.