Performance Evaluation of ADS-B Receivers Implemented Using Software-Defined Radio Platforms and GNU Radio

Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is one of the most critical technologies utilized in contemporary air traffic control, providing an automated and broadcast means of periodically sending aircraft identification and location, as well as velocity and other state-related information. This paper assesses the receiving performance of ADS-B signals utilizing multiple software-defined radio (SDR) platforms. Four different SDR platforms (DX Patrol MK4, Adalm-Pluto, USRP B200mini and USRP B210) were considered for evaluation, using a single antenna feed distribution via an active RF splitter. Each receiver’s performance was evaluated by measuring the rate at which each platform was able to decode messages from aircraft, the number of aircraft that were detected, the number of valid position reports received from each aircraft, the distance from the receiver to the aircraft at which each platform could receive valid position reports and each platform’s susceptibility to various forms of interference. The results indicate that the best cost-performance in case of interference-free ADS-B reception is obtained for the Adalm-Pluto platform (882 ADS-B messages received in the analyzed period, 2.84 cost/message), whereas the USRP B210 SDR exhibits the best performance in the presence of strong interference (109 ADS-B messages received). These findings provide insight into the relative trade-offs between low-cost SDR platforms and higher-performance SDR platforms, specifically related to analog-to-digital converter (ADC) resolution, RF front-end architecture, host interface, sensitivity and decoding reliability.