HyperLoc is a software solution for passive hyperbolic geolocation. It's purpose is to find the location of transmitters (legal, illegal or interferences) which signals are relayed by communication satellite transponders. HyperLoc mainly targets the following types of customers:
- communication satellite operators, looking to reduce system interference and locate illegal transmitters,
- intelligence agencies, who wish to locate legal transmitters.
This fully passive method has the following prerequisites:
- a secondary satellite shall exist, close enough to the interfered satellite (primary satellite) with a tranponder frequency plan which is compatible,
- the location of the interceptor shall be inside the common downlink coverages of both the primary and the secondary satellites.
The method relies on the fact that it is possible to estimate the position of the transmitter on the surface of the earth by computing the differences in arrival time and arrival frequency (usually known as TDOA & FDOA) between the primary signal and the copy that is relayed by the secondary satellite.
HyperLoc is able to locate any kind of carrier, even when the orbits of both the primary and the secondary satellites are not known: our unique multi-references technique only requires publicly available orbits (i.e. those provided by NORAD) and provides a geolocation accuracy usually better than 15 km.
The figure below shows the result (see the multi-reference case study in more details) of a transmitter station geolocated with:
- standard geolocation relying on public ephemeris data,
- standard geolocation relying on operator provided ephemeris data,
- multi-references geolocation relying on public ephemeris data,
- multi-references geolocation relying on operator provided ephemeris data.
As one can see, the target can be located with an accuracy of 1 km!
As for the GUI, HyperLoc and HyperMon share the same framework. The complexity of the process is hidden to simplify the task of the operator. HyperLoc is connected to 3 databases: the transmitters & references database, the satellites database and the ephemeris database. HyperLoc comes with its own map tool but also provides an interface to Google Earth for those users working "on-line".
It is important to emphasize the advanced processings and capabilities obtained when used together with HyperMon, making HyperLoc a powerful, competitive and unique geolocation solution.