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CRC Press eBooks

Physical Layer Security in Wireless Communications

Xiangyun Zhou, Lingyang Song, Yan Zhang

Published Nov 7, 2013• 256 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Physical layer security has recently become an emerging technique to complement and significantly improve the communication security of wireless networks. Compared to cryptographic approaches, physical layer security is a fundamentally different paradigm where secrecy is achieved by exploiting the physical layer properties of the communication syst

DOI
10.1201/b15496

Related papers

Wireless physical-layer security: The challenges ahead

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The issues of privacy and security in wireless communication networks have taken on an increasingly important role as these networks continue to flourish worldwide. Traditionally, security is viewed as an independent feature addressed above the physical-layer and all widely used cryptographic protocols are designed and implemented assuming the physical-layer has already been established and provides an error free link. However, with the emergence of ad-hoc and decentralized networks, higher-layer techniques, such as encryption, are complex and hard to be implemented. Therefore, there has been a recent attention on studying the fundamental ability of the physical-layer to provide secure wireless communications. In this contribution, we discuss the challenges ahead in implementing wireless physical-layer security.

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The ongoing paradigm shift from classical centralized wireless technologies toward distributed large-scale networks such as the Internet of Things has introduced new security challenges that cannot be fully handled via traditional cryptographic means. In emerging wireless environments, devices have limited capabilities and are not controlled by a central control center; thus, the implementation of computationally expensive cryptographic techniques can be challenging. Motivated by this paradigm shift, substantial recent research has been investigating the use of the physical layer as a means to develop low-complexity and effective wireless security mechanisms. Such techniques are grouped under the umbrella of physical layer security. These techniques range from information-theoretic security, which exploits channel advantages to thwart eavesdropping, to physical layer fi ngerprinting techniques that exploit physical layer features for device identifi cation. In this context, providing state-of-the-art tutorials on the various approaches to physical layer security is of considerable interest. This Feature Topic gathers together tutorial-style and survey articles that provide an in-depth overview of the broad spectrum of security opportunities brought forward by physical layer security.

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Physical layer security has been recently recognized as a promising new design paradigm to provide security in wireless networks. In addition to the existing conventional cryptographic methods, physical layer security exploits the dynamics of fading channels to enhance secured wireless links. In this approach, jamming plays a key role by generating noise signals to confuse the potential eavesdroppers, and significantly improves quality and reliability of secure communications between legitimate terminals. This article presents theoretical limits and practical designs of jamming approaches for physical layer security. In particular, the theoretical limits explore the achievable secrecy rates of user cooperation-based jamming whilst the centralized and game theoretic-based precoding techniques are reviewed for practical implementations. In addition, the emerging wireless energy harvesting techniques are exploited to harvest the required energy to transmit jamming signals. Future directions of these approaches and the associated research challenges are also briefly outlined.

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Physical layer security has recently become an emerging technique to complement and significantly improve the communication security of wireless networks. Compared to cryptographic approaches, physical layer security is a fundamentally different paradigm where secrecy is achieved by exploiting the physical layer properties of the communication syst
The issues of privacy and security in wireless communication networks have taken on an increasingly important role as these networks continue to flourish worldwide. Traditionally, security is viewed as an independent feature addressed above the physical-layer and all widely used cryptographic protocols are designed and implemented assuming the physical-layer has already been established and provides an error free link. However, with the emergence of ad-hoc and decentralized networks, higher-layer techniques, such as encryption, are complex and hard to be implemented. Therefore, there has been a recent attention on studying the fundamental ability of the physical-layer to provide secure wireless communications. In this contribution, we discuss the challenges ahead in implementing wireless physical-layer security.
The ongoing paradigm shift from classical centralized wireless technologies toward distributed large-scale networks such as the Internet of Things has introduced new security challenges that cannot be fully handled via traditional cryptographic means. In emerging wireless environments, devices have limited capabilities and are not controlled by a central control center; thus, the implementation of computationally expensive cryptographic techniques can be challenging. Motivated by this paradigm shift, substantial recent research has been investigating the use of the physical layer as a means to develop low-complexity and effective wireless security mechanisms. Such techniques are grouped under the umbrella of physical layer security. These techniques range from information-theoretic security, which exploits channel advantages to thwart eavesdropping, to physical layer fi ngerprinting techniques that exploit physical layer features for device identifi cation. In this context, providing state-of-the-art tutorials on the various approaches to physical layer security is of considerable interest. This Feature Topic gathers together tutorial-style and survey articles that provide an in-depth overview of the broad spectrum of security opportunities brought forward by physical layer security.
Security in wireless networks has traditionally been considered to be an issue to be addressed separately from the physical radio transmission aspects of wireless systems. However, with the emergence of new networking architectures that are not amenable to traditional methods of secure communication such as data encryption, there has been an increase in interest in the potential of the physical properties of the radio channel itself to provide communications security. Information theory provides a natural framework for the study of this issue, and there has been considerable recent research devoted to using this framework to develop a greater understanding of the fundamental ability of the so-called physical layer to provide security in wireless networks. Moreover, this approach is also suggestive in many cases of coding techniques that can approach fundamental limits in practice and of techniques for other security tasks such as authentication. This paper provides an overview of these developments.
Ensuring secure wireless communications is crucial, given their vulnerability to a wide range of risks and attacks. Physical Layer Security (PLS) techniques offer an excellent complement to traditional cryptographic algorithms, enhancing overall security. This paper provides a brief overview of the theoretical foundations of PLS techniques, and presents the basic concept. Three models are simulated and analyzed: a basic model and two cooperative models involving one and two jammers. The performance for these models, in terms of secrecy rate and bit error rate, are evaluated. Finally, the paper concludes with insights into potential applications and the future prospects of PLS techniques in modern wireless communication systems.
The ongoing paradigm shift from classical centralized wireless technologies toward distributed large-scale networks such as the Internet of Things has introduced new security challenges that cannot be fully handled via traditional cryptgraphic means. In such emerging wireless environments, devices have limited capabilities and are not controlled by a central control center; thus, the implementation of computationally expensive cryptographic techniques can be challenging. Motivated by these considerations, substantial recent research has been investigating the use of the physical layer as a means to develop low-complexity and effective wireless security mechanisms. Such techniques are grouped under the umbrella ofphysical layer security. These techniques range from information-theoretic security, which exploits channel advantages to thwart eavesdropping, to physical layer fingerprinting techniques that exploit physical layer features for device identification. In this context, providing state-of-the-art tutorials on the various approaches to physical layer security is of considerable interest. This Feature Topic gathers together such tutorial-style and overview articles that provide an in-depth overview of the broad spectrum of security opportunities brought forward by physical layer security.
Physical layer security has been recently recognized as a promising new design paradigm to provide security in wireless networks. In addition to the existing conventional cryptographic methods, physical layer security exploits the dynamics of fading channels to enhance secured wireless links. In this approach, jamming plays a key role by generating noise signals to confuse the potential eavesdroppers, and significantly improves quality and reliability of secure communications between legitimate terminals. This article presents theoretical limits and practical designs of jamming approaches for physical layer security. In particular, the theoretical limits explore the achievable secrecy rates of user cooperation-based jamming whilst the centralized and game theoretic-based precoding techniques are reviewed for practical implementations. In addition, the emerging wireless energy harvesting techniques are exploited to harvest the required energy to transmit jamming signals. Future directions of these approaches and the associated research challenges are also briefly outlined.