Aircraft Tracking with Mode S: Modez & Aviation Mapper

Aviation Mapper is LIVE! Click here to use it.


The Aviation Mapper launch video


This project is a completely home-grown implementation of an aircraft tracking system using Mode S messages received on a Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) from Ettus Research. The system comprises of a software-defined baseband decoder, a GUI front-end and a real-time (smooth) JavaScript-enabled Google Earth feed.

For the Mode S/aviation/RF enthusiast: If you are interested in various notes, diagrams and screenshots that are more technical than these series of pages, please check out the dedicated page on my wiki as well.

Modez, Aviation Mapper and Software Defined Radio featured in GQ Australia (April/May)!

Screenshots from the GUI front-ends:


A plane at 514 km, with trails left behind showing flight corridors


Looking at an angle at Sydney Airport, with planes landing on overlapping approach trails.
ACARS messages shown spatially as coloured dots with message label and content in balloon pop-up.


Spatial representation of ACARS message transactions building up over half a day


Accumulated flight paths over half a day


The Aviation Mapper desktop app


Running live at Sydney Airport streaming AvMap via 3G mobile Internet


Running the Aviation Mapper desktop app


Presentation at Dorkbot Sydney Finale 2011


Presentation at Ruxcon 2011: "Hacking the wireless world with Software Defined Radio

Click on a book section in the top left (or below) to explore the project further.

AviationMapper Demo

Aviation Mapper is LIVE! Click here to use it.


The Aviation Mapper launch video


Running live at Sydney Airport streaming AvMap via 3G mobile Internet


Running the Aviation Mapper desktop app


Presentation at Dorkbot Sydney Finale 2011


Presentation at Ruxcon 2011: "Hacking the wireless world with Software Defined Radio

The Early Days

These are screenshots from the first working version of the system. You'll notice one obvious bug: some of the altitudes are impossibly high (the was an extra un-necessary bit shift).

If you wish to see photos of the first proper outdoor test of the system on top of the tallest hill in Sydney Park, please have a look at the album in my gallery.

Presentation at Dorkbot

Here are some excerpts of the presentation Matt Robert and I gave at the October 2010 meetup of Dorkbot Sydney.

If you wish to see all of the photos from the set-up phase prior to the presentation on the roof of my apartment block, please have a look at the album in my gallery.

Evolution: Cool Moments for Modez

The following series of images were captured/created when a milestone or new record was reached. There are more technical images and notes on the Modez wiki page. If you wish to see photos of the last major outdoor test, which involved five laptops, two USRPs and an SBS-1, please visit the album in my gallery.

 

Comparison to SBS-1

The aviation tracking system ("Modez") and an SBS-1 (thanks to Matt Robert) with its Base Station software were run side-by-side to undertake a rough performance comparison. For various technical notes on the SBS-1, including sampling the baseband output with an LFRX daughterboard, please see the page on my wiki. If you're interested in the photos of the major outdoor test where the SBS-1 was pitted against Modez, visit the album on my gallery.

Initially, this was done in the "RF quagmire" that is my "lab" - both antennas were placed right up against the window, although this doesn't help the fact neither see much of the sky. Here are some results:

Mode S in the US

San Francisco & Silicon Valley:

New York, New York:

SCOTSUXX: