Enhancing the physical layer security of artificial noise-aided half-duplex cooperative NOMA systems

The objective of this paper is to propose techniques for enhancing the physical layer security (PLS) performance of half-duplex cooperative non-orthogonal multiple access (HD-CNOMA) network in the presence of an external passive eavesdropper. We propose an artificial noise (AN)-aided framework and derive approximate analytical expressions for the secrecy outage probabilities (SOPs) of the downlink users. It is demonstrated that the proposed AN-aided framework significantly reduces the SOPs of the users and completely resolves the zero-diversity order problem, which is prevalent in HD-CNOMA network without AN. To further enhance the PLS performance, we determine optimal power allocation coefficients (OPACs) for the downlink users at the base station (BS) that minimizes the system SOP (SSOP) of the AN-aided HD-CNOMA network. With the help of extensive numerical and simulation investigations, it is shown that the proposed OPAC leads to significant reduction of the SSOP, while lowering the SOPs of the users, compared to random/equal setting of the PACs.     

Secrecy performance analysis of IRS-assisted D2D communication underlaying cellular network

In this paper, we evaluate the secrecy performance of an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS)-assisted device-to-device (D2D) communication in spectrum-shared cellular networks. To this end, we derive novel closed-form expressions for the secrecy outage probability (SOP) and the asymptotic SOP in the presence of multiple eavesdroppers. In the continue, in order to dynamically access the spectrum band of the licensed users, we define the optimization problem of secrecy spectrum resource allocation to minimize the SOP as a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) problem. Then, the globally optimal solutions to this problem are obtained by using the Hungarian algorithm. Numerical analyses show that increasing the reflective elements of IRS can improve the secrecy performance.     

Physical layer security performance of NOMA-assisted vehicular communication systems over double-Rayleigh fading channels

In this paper, we investigate the secrecy performance of a downlink non-orthogonal multiple access enabled V2V communication system wherein a source vehicle communicates with two authenticated user vehicles, i.e., far user and near user, in the presence of a passive eavesdropper vehicle. Moreover, we formulate two scenarios based on the eavesdropper’s decoding capabilities; (1) Scenario I: when the eavesdropper vehicle has comparable decoding capabilities as with the authorized user vehicles, and (2) Scenario II: when the eavesdropper is entirely capable of perfectly decoding the signals from both authorized user vehicles. For such a system configuration with Scenarios I & II, we deduce the analytical expressions for the secrecy outage probability (SOP) and ergodic secrecy capacity over independent but not necessarily identically distributed double-Rayleigh fading channels. Further, to obtain insights into the secrecy diversity order for the legitimate user vehicles under Scenarios I & II, we present the asymptotic SOP analysis by taking three cases into account; (1) Case 1: when the average transmit signal-to-noise ratio approaches infinity, (2) Case 2: when the average channel gains of the user vehicles tend to infinity with fixed average channel gains corresponding to the eavesdropper, and (3) Case 3: when the average channel gains pertaining to the user vehicles and the eavesdropper tend to infinity. From which, we can infer that the secrecy diversity order of the far user vehicle is zero for Cases 1, 2, & 3, whereas the secrecy diversity order of the near user vehicle is zero for Cases 1 & 3 and one for Case 2, under Scenarios I & II. The numerical and simulation results corroborate our theoretical investigations. Our results demonstrate the impact of transmit power, power allocation factor, channel conditions of legitimate users and eavesdropper on the system’s secrecy performance.     

Physical layer secrecy of a cognitive radio with spatially correlated Alamouti OSTBC system

In this paper, an underlay spectrum-sharing system with Alamouti orthogonal space–time block coding (OSTBC) is considered to analyze and evaluate the physical layer security (PLS) performance of the cognitive radio system under a practical scenario with spatially correlated transmit antennas. It is assumed that there exists a passive eavesdropper and the cognitive channel and the wiretap channel follow Rayleigh fading distribution. To investigate and study the PLS performance of the cognitive system, first closed-form expressions are derived for three PLS metrics, namely: the probability of strictly-positive secrecy capacity (PSPSC), the secrecy outage probability (SOP), and the average secrecy capacity (ASC). Then numerical results obtained from the derived closed-form expressions are presented and validated by the computer simulations, to study the effects of spatial correlation on the PLS performance of the considered cognitive radio system under different parameters. It is shown that increasing the SNR of the cognitive system (Alice-to-Bob) channel yields an improvement in the PLS of the cognitive system. Moreover, a smaller value of the eavesdropping (Alice-to-Eve) channel SNR always leads to a better PLS for the cognitive system. It is also observed that the spatial correlation related to Alice-to-Bob channel degrades the PLS, and the spatial correlation related to Alice-to-Eve channel has less impact on the PLS performance.     

On the security of K-tier heterogeneous cellular networks

Motivated by recent developments in heterogeneous cellular networks and physical-layer security, we aim to characterize the fundamental limits of secure communication in networks. Based on a general model in which both transmitters and receivers are randomly scattered in space, we model the locations of K-tier base stations, users, and potential eavesdroppers as independent two-dimensional Poisson point processes. Using the proposed model, we analyze the achievable secrecy rates for an arbitrarily located mobile user. Assuming that the cell selection is based on achievable-secrecy-rate threshold, we obtain approximations for: (a) secrecy coverage probability and (b) average secrecy load per tier. We also investigate how the network performance is affected by secrecy rate threshold, eavesdropper density, and different access strategies are analyzed, respectively. Finally, our theoretical claims are confirmed by the numerical results.     

Cognitive radio network with secrecy and interference constraints

In this paper, we investigate the physical-layer security of a secure communication in single-input multiple-output (SIMO) cognitive radio networks (CRNs) in the presence of two eavesdroppers. In particular, both primary user (PU) and secondary user (SU) share the same spectrum, but they face with different eavesdroppers who are equipped with multiple antennas. In order to protect the PU communication from the interference of the SU and the risks of eavesdropping, the SU must have a reasonable adaptive transmission power which is set on the basis of channel state information, interference and security constraints of the PU. Accordingly, an upper bound and lower bound for the SU transmission power are derived. Furthermore, a power allocation policy, which is calculated on the convex combination of the upper and lower bound of the SU transmission power, is proposed. On this basis, we investigate the impact of the PU transmission power and channel mean gains on the security and system performance of the SU. Closed-form expressions for the outage probability, probability of non-zero secrecy capacity, and secrecy outage probability are obtained. Interestingly, our results show that the strong channel mean gain of the PU transmitter to the PU’s eavesdropper in the primary network can enhance the SU performance.     

On the secure performance of Internet of Vehicles in Nakagami-m fading scenarios

With the vigorous development of today’s wireless communication industry, the Internet of Vehicles (IoV), as one of its application scenarios, has received extensive attention from researchers. Ensuring the security of information transmission is one of the many problems to be solved in the IoV system. To fit the actual scene, this paper considers the impacts of both the channel characteristics of Nakagami-m fading and the distribution of the vehicles’ positions in the real road scenario of the IoV. According to the random distribution characteristics of vehicle terminal position, a system model with a transmitter base station, a legitimate vehicle terminal, and an eavesdropper is established. The approximate and asymptotic analytical expressions of the secrecy outage probability over the Nakagami-m fading channels are derived. Finally, the correctness of the proposed analysis models established in this paper is verified by Monte Carlo simulation and numerical analysis. The secrecy outage performance and the influencing factors of the considered model in the Nakagami-m fading environment are discussed and analyzed.     

Robust secrecy rate maximization in IRS-assisted cognitive radio networks

In this paper, we focus on the secrecy rate maximization problem in intelligent reflecting surface (IRS)-assisted cognitive radio (CR) networks. In order to improve the security, there is a common scheme to add artificial noise (AN) to the transmitted signal, which is also applied in this paper. Further, in CR networks, the secondary users always cannot obtain accurate channel state information (CSI) about the primary user and eavesdropper. By taking jointly design for the IRS phase shift matrix, the transmitted beamforming of the secondary base station (BS), and the covariance matrix of AN, our objective is to maximize the minimal secrecy rate of all secondary users. Due to the serious coupling among the designed variables, it cannot be solved by conventional methods. We propose an alternating optimization (AO) algorithm. In simulation results, we apply primary users and secondary users randomly distributed in the communication area, which numerically demonstrate the superiority of our proposed scheme.     

Physical layer security using beamforming techniques for 5G and beyond networks: A systematic review

It has been predicted that by the year 2030, 5G and beyond 5G (B5G) networks are expected to provide hundreds of trillions of gigabytes of data for various emerging applications such as augmented, mixed, and virtual reality (AR/MR/VR), wireless computer-brain interfaces (WCBI), connected robotics and autonomous systems. Most of these applications share data with each other using an open channel, i.e., the Internet. The open and broadcast nature of wireless channel makes the communication susceptible to various types of attacks (e.g., eavesdropping, jamming). Thus, there is a strong requirement to enhance the secrecy of wireless channel to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of transmitted data. Physical layer security (PLS) has evolved as a novel concept and robust alternative to cryptography-based techniques, which have a number of drawbacks and practical issues for 5G and beyond networks. Beamforming is an energy-efficient PLS technique, that involves steering of the transmitted signal in a particular direction, while considering that an intruding user attempts to decode the transmitted data. Motivated from these points, this article summarizes various beamforming based PLS techniques for secure data transmission in 5G and B5G networks. We investigate the eight most promising techniques for beamforming in PLS: Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA), Full-Duplex Networks, Massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Cognitive Radio (CR) Network, Relay Network, Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer (SWIPT), UAV Communication Networks and Space Information Networks, and Heterogeneous Networks. Moreover, various physical layer threats and countermeasures associated with 5G and B5G networks are subsequently covered. Lastly, we provide insights to the readers about constraints and challenges for the usage of beamforming-based PLS techniques in various upcoming future applications.     

Physical layer secrecy analysis of HS-UAV NOMA network with spatially random eavesdroppers

This work investigates the physical layer secrecy performance of a hybrid satellite/unmanned aerial vehicle (HS-UAV) terrestrial non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) network, where one satellite source intends to make communication with destination users via a UAV relay using NOMA protocol in the existence of spatially random eavesdroppers. All the destination users randomly distributed on the ground comply with a homogeneous Poisson point process in the basis of stochastic geometry. Adopting Shadowed-Rician fading in satellite-to-UAV and satellite-to-eavesdroppers links while Rayleigh fading in both UAV-to-users and UAV-to-eavesdroppers links, the theoretical expressions for the secrecy outage probability (SOP) of the paired NOMA users are obtained based on the distance-determined path-loss. Also, the asymptotic behaviors of SOP expressions at high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime are analyzed and the system throughputs of the paired NOMA users are examined for gaining further realization of the network. Moreover, numerical results are contrasted with simulation to validate the theoretical analysis. Investigation of this work shows the comparison of SOP performance for the far and near user, pointing out the SOP performance of the network depends on the channel fading, UAV coverage airspace, distribution of eavesdroppers and some other key parameters.     

Secrecy energy efficiency optimization for multiuser massive MIMO wiretap systems with transmit antenna selection

Massive multiple-input-multiple-output (Massive MIMO) significantly improves the capacity of wireless communication systems. However, large-scale antennas bring high hardware costs, and security is a vital issue in Massive MIMO networks. To deal with the above problems, antenna selection (AS) and artificial noise (AN) are introduced to reduce energy consumption and improve system security performance, respectively. In this paper, we optimize secrecy energy efficiency (SEE) in a downlink multi-user multi-antenna scenario, where a multi-antenna eavesdropper attempts to eavesdrop the information from the base station (BS) to the multi-antenna legitimate receivers. An optimization problem is formulated to maximize the SEE by jointly optimizing the transmit beamforming vectors, the artificial noise vector and the antenna selection matrix at the BS. The formulated problem is a nonconvex mixed integer fractional programming problem. To solve the problem, a successive convex approximation (SCA)-based joint antenna selection and artificial noise (JASAN) algorithm is proposed. After a series of relaxation and equivalent transformations, the nonconvex problem is approximated to a convex problem, and the solution is obtained after several iterations. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm has good convergence behavior, and the joint optimization of antenna selection and artificial noise can effectively improve the SEE while ensuring the achievable secrecy rate.     

An Overview of Key Technologies in Physical Layer Security

The open nature of radio propagation enables ubiquitous wireless communication. This allows for seamless data transmission. However, unauthorized users may pose a threat to the security of the data being transmitted to authorized users. This gives rise to network vulnerabilities such as hacking, eavesdropping, and jamming of the transmitted information. Physical layer security (PLS) has been identified as one of the promising security approaches to safeguard the transmission from eavesdroppers in a wireless network. It is an alternative to the computationally demanding and complex cryptographic algorithms and techniques. PLS has continually received exponential research interest owing to the possibility of exploiting the characteristics of the wireless channel. One of the main characteristics includes the random nature of the transmission channel. The aforesaid nature makes it possible for confidential and authentic signal transmission between the sender and the receiver in the physical layer. We start by introducing the basic theories of PLS, including the wiretap channel, information-theoretic security, and a brief discussion of the cryptography security technique. Furthermore, an overview of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication is provided. The main focus of our review is based on the existing key-less PLS optimization techniques, their limitations, and challenges. The paper also looks into the promising key research areas in addressing these shortfalls. Lastly, a comprehensive overview of some of the recent PLS research in 5G and 6G technologies of wireless communication networks is provided.     

Stochastic modelling and analysis of mobility models for intelligent software defined internet of vehicles

Data traffic forwarding and network optimization is essential to effective congestion management in software-defined vehicular networks, and it is necessary for software-defined vehicle networks (SDVN). SDVN is needed to optimize connection performance and network controls in dense and sparse networks to govern data flow between nodes as effectively as possible. Intelligent software-defined internet of vehicles (iSDIoVs) has recently emerged as a potential technology for future vehicular networks. It manages the vehicular ad hoc networks systematically. The link connection of moving vehicles from the central SDN controller may fail. It impacts the efficiency and communication performance because of the lack of connection between vehicles and infrastructure (V2I). The researchers have analyzed the network performance and mobility models in a dense and sparse network to maximize network performance by iSDIoVs. By integrating heterogeneous systems such as IEEE 802.11p and cellular networks into vehicular ad-hoc networks, it is possible to reduce buffer occupancy in iSDIoV and control the mobility and delay bound analysis in V2V communication. The SDN will provide flexibility and reliability to the vehicular networks. An SDN controller manages the data flow in the vehicular network and controls the flow matching rules in the control plane. The iSDIoV and queuing models improve the response time and resource utilization and enhance the network complexity analysis for traffic management services.     

Secrecy communications of intelligent reflecting surfaces aided NOMA networks

This paper investigates the physical layer security of an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) aided non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) networks, where a remote user is regarded as an eavesdropper to intercept the information of nearby user. To evaluate the security performance of IRS-aided NOMA networks, a problem of maximizing achievable secrecy rate is formulated via jointly optimizing the beamforming and phase shifting. More specifically, we aim to tackle the non-convex problem by optimizing beamforming vector as well as phase shifting matrix with the assistance of block coordinate descent (BCD) and minorization maximization (MM) algorithms. Numerical results illustrate that: 1) The secrecy rates of IRS-aided NOMA with BCD and MM algorithms are superior to that of orthogonal multiple access schemes; 2) With increasing the number of reflecting elements, the secrecy rates of IRS-aided NOMA networks are achieved carefully; and 3) The IRS-aided NOMA networks are capable of relieving the transmission pressure of base station.     

On the Zero-Outage Secrecy-Capacity of Dependent Fading Wiretap Channels

It is known that for a slow fading Gaussian wiretap channel without channel state information at the transmitter and with statistically independent fading channels, the outage probability of any given target secrecy rate is non-zero, in general. This implies that the so-called zero-outage secrecy capacity (ZOSC) is zero and we cannot transmit at any positive data rate reliably and confidentially. When the fading legitimate and eavesdropper channels are statistically dependent, this conclusion changes significantly. Our work shows that there exist dependency structures for which positive zero-outage secrecy rates (ZOSR) are achievable. In this paper, we are interested in the characterization of these dependency structures and we study the system parameters in terms of the number of observations at legitimate receiver and eavesdropper as well as average channel gains for which positive ZOSR are achieved. First, we consider the setting that there are two paths from the transmitter to the legitimate receiver and one path to the eavesdropper. We show that by introducing a proper dependence structure among the fading gains of the three paths, we can achieve a zero secrecy outage probability (SOP) for some positive secrecy rate. In this way, we can achieve a non-zero ZOSR. We conjecture that the proposed dependency structure achieves maximum ZOSR. To better understand the underlying dependence structure, we further consider the case where the channel gains are from finite alphabets and systematically and globally solve the ZOSC. In addition, we apply the rearrangement algorithm to solve the ZOSR for continuous channel gains. The results indicate that the legitimate link must have an advantage in terms of the number of antennas and average channel gains to obtain positive ZOSR. The results motivate further studies into the optimal dependency structures.     

Jamming transition of a two-dimensional traffic dynamics with consideration of optimal current difference

A modified two-dimensional lattice hydrodynamic traffic flow model is proposed by incorporating the optimal current difference effect of leading vehicles. Phase transitions and critical phenomenon are investigated near the critical point both analytically and numerically. Based on the configuration of vehicles, it is shown that two distinct jamming transitions occur: conventional jamming transition to the kink jam and jamming transition to the chaotic jam. It is shown that consideration of optimal current difference effect stabilizes the traffic flow and suppresses the traffic jam efficiently for all possible configurations of vehicles on a square lattice.     

Performance enhancement in the cell-free massive MIMO SWIPT system with active eavesdropping

This paper investigates the secure transmission for simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) in the cell-free massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system. To develop green communication, legitimate users harvest energy by the hybrid time switching (TS) and power splitting (PS) strategy in the downlink phase, and the harvested energy can provide power to send uplink pilot sequences for the next time slot. By in-built batteries, the active eavesdropper can send the same pilots with the wiretapped user, which results in undesirable correlations between the channel estimates. Under these scenarios, we derive the closed-form expressions of average harvested energy and achievable rates, and propose an iterative power control (PC) scheme based on max–min fairness algorithm with energy and secrecy constraints (MMF-ESC). This scheme can ensure the uniform good services for all users preserving the distributed architecture advantage of cell-free networks, while meeting the requirements of energy harvested by legitimate users and network security against active eavesdroppers. Besides, continuous approximation, bisection and path tracking are jointly applied to cope with the high-complexity and non-convex optimization. Numerical results demonstrate that MMF-ESC PC scheme can effectively increase the achievable rate and the average harvested energy of each user, and decrease the eavesdropping rate below the threshold. Moreover, the results also reveal that PS strategy is superior in harvesting energy in terms of more stringent network requirements for average achievable rates or security.     

Improved Eavesdropping Detection Strategy in Quantum Direct Communication Protocol Based on Five-Particle Cluster State

In order to improve the eavesdropping detection efficiency in a two-step quantum direct communication protocol, an improved eavesdropping detection strategy using the five-particle cluster state is proposed in which the five-particle cluster state is used to detect eavesdroppers. During the security analysis, the method of the entropy theory is introduced, and two detection strategies are compared quantitatively by using the constraint between the information that the eavesdropper can obtain and the interference that has been introduced. If the eavesdroppers intend to obtain all information, the eavesdropping detection rate of the original two-step quantum direct communication protocol by using EPR pair block as detection particles will be 50 %; while the proposed strategy’s detection rate will be 88 %. In the end, the security of the proposed protocol is discussed. The analysis results show that the eavesdropping detection strategy presented is more secure.     

No signaling and quantum key distribution

Standard quantum key distribution protocols are provably secure against eavesdropping attacks, if quantum theory is correct. It is theoretically interesting to know if we need to assume the validity of quantum theory to prove the security of quantum key distribution, or whether its security can be based on other physical principles. The question would also be of practical interest if quantum mechanics were ever to fail in some regime, because a scientifically and technologically advanced eavesdropper could perhaps use postquantum physics to extract information from quantum communications without necessarily causing the quantum state disturbances on which existing security proofs rely. Here we describe a key distribution scheme provably secure against general attacks by a postquantum eavesdropper limited only by the impossibility of superluminal signaling. Its security stems from violation of a Bell inequality.