JEANS

Secure Satcom for Safety & Security (4S)

Status

Completed
Status date

2025-02-18
Activity Code

6B.085

Objectives

The main objective of the JEANS project is to develop jamming detection and mitigation techniques for satellite Internet of Things (IoT) gateways as a countermeasure against security threats. Specific emphasis will be given to smart jammers, also known as protocol-aware jammers. In particular, threats involving partial jamming or complete service unavailability are addressed. A test-bed is developed in order to real-time demonstrate the countermeasure mechanisms.

Challenges

The main challenges of the JEANS project are related to the identification of the most probable jammer attacks against IoT radio interfaces, which is investigated in the project, and the elaboration of an effective anti‑jamming strategy.

Benefits

The main benefits of the project rely on the definition of an effective anti-jamming strategy, ensuring resilience to IoT communications. In fact, uncoordinated direct satellite communication by a large number of IoT devices is subject to high vulnerability due to intentional jamming attacks. For this reason, the identification of a strategy that increases the security of IoT communications definitely represents an important asset for the entire consortium.

Features

The main product features are the following:

A set of techniques for detecting protocol-aware jammer attacking the E-SSA and NB-IoT air-interface.
A set of techniques for mitigating the damages potentially caused by protocol-aware jammers attacking E-SSA and NB-IoT air-interface.

System Architecture

The system architecture of the JEANS testbed foresees:

A traffic generator, emulating the traffic generated by a population of legitimate satellite IoT terminals;
A jammer station, which can attack FL/DL or RL/UL;
A satellite GW, which transmits FL/DL signals and receives RL/UL signals from the satellite terminals.

Plan

The project plan foresees a unique phase which includes the following milestones after the KO meeting (T0):

System Requirements Review (T0+2M)
Preliminary Design Review (T0+6M)
Critical Design Review (T0+8M)
Test Readiness Review (T0+15M)
Test Acceptance Review (T0+17M)
Final Review (T0+18M)

The total duration of the project is 18 months.

Current status

The FR milestone was achieved on 17 January 2025, so the activities related to the project have been successfully completed. All documentation has been delivered to ESA and the final report is publicly available.