In this paper, we study decode-and-forward relaying networks in the presence of direct links, where they are used by the eavesdropper to overhear the confidential message from the source and relay. The secure data transmission can go through from either the direct or the relaying branch, and we focus on the practical communication scenarios, where the main and eavesdropper channels are correlated. Although traditional opportunistic selection techniques can choose one better branch to ensure the secure performance, it needs to continuously know the channel state information (CSI) of both branches and may result in a high branch switching rate. To overcome these limitations, we propose a distributed secure switch-and-stay combining (DSSSC) protocol, where only one between direct and relaying branches is activated to assist the secure data transmission, and the switching occurs when the branch cannot support the secure communication any longer. The DSSSC protocol uses either the instantaneous or the statistics of the eavesdropping CSI. For both cases, we quantify the impact of correlated fading on secure communication by deriving an analytical expression for the secrecy outage probability (SOP) as well as an asymptotic expression for the high main-to-eavesdropper ratio region. From the asymptotic SOP, we can conclude that the DSSSC can achieve the optimal secure performance of opportunistic selection with less implementation complexity, and the channel correlation can further enhance the transmission security.
In this paper, we study decode-and-forward relaying networks in the presence of direct links, where they are used by the eavesdropper to overhear the confidential message from the source and relay. The secure data transmission can go through from either the direct or the relaying branch, and we focus on the practical communication scenarios, where the main and eavesdropper channels are correlated. Although traditional opportunistic selection techniques can choose one better branch to ensure the secure performance, it needs to continuously know the channel state information (CSI) of both branches and may result in a high branch switching rate. To overcome these limitations, we propose a distributed secure switch-and-stay combining (DSSSC) protocol, where only one between direct and relaying branches is activated to assist the secure data transmission, and the switching occurs when the branch cannot support the secure communication any longer. The DSSSC protocol uses either the instantaneous or the statistics of the eavesdropping CSI. For both cases, we quantify the impact of correlated fading on secure communication by deriving an analytical expression for the secrecy outage probability (SOP) as well as an asymptotic expression for the high main-to-eavesdropper ratio region. From the asymptotic SOP, we can conclude that the DSSSC can achieve the optimal secure performance of opportunistic selection with less implementation complexity, and the channel correlation can further enhance the transmission security.
In this paper, we study the impact of correlated fading on the secrecy performance of multiple decode-and-forward (DF) relaying with outdated relay selection. It is assumed that the information transmission, assisted by N DF relays from the source to the destination, can be overheard by an eavesdropper. Particularly, we consider the realistic scenario where the eavesdropper's and the main channels are correlated. In order to enhance the network security, the best relay is selected among N available DF relays to assist the secure transmission. Due to the time-varying channel environments, we note that the selected relay may be outdated. In order to study the impact of both channel correlation and outdated relay selection on the secrecy performance, we first derive an analytical expression for the secrecy outage probability (SOP). Also, we derive the asymptotic expression for the SOP in the high main-to-eavesdropper ratio regime. Numerical results are provided to demonstrate the correctness of our analytical expressions.
In this paper, we present a comprehensive investigation on the secrecy performance of opportunistic relay selection systems employing the decode-and-forward protocol over Rayleigh fading channels. Considering a practical setting where direct link between the source node (Alice) and the destination node (Bob) is available, we study the secrecy performance of three different diversity combining schemes, namely, maximum ratio combining (MRC), distributed selection combining (DSC), and distributed switch-and-stay combining (DSSC). Throughout the analysis, we consider two different scenarios based on the availability of the eavesdropper's channel state information (CSI), i.e., Scenario A, where the eavesdropper's CSI is not available at Alice and the relay, and Scenario B, where Alice and the relay have knowledge about the eavesdropper's CSI. For Scenario A, we derive exact closed-form expressions for secrecy outage probability and simple asymptotic approximations for the secrecy outage probability, which enable the characterization of the achievable secrecy diversity order and coding gains. For Scenario B, we derive closed-form expressions for the achievable secrecy rates. For both scenarios, we investigate the impact of feedback delay (outdated CSI) on the secrecy performance wherein exact and asymptotic secrecy outage probability and closed-form expressions of the secrecy achievable rates are obtained. Our analytical findings suggest that both the MRC and DSC schemes achieve the maximum diversity order of K+1 where K is the number of relays. In addition, the feedback delay has a significant impact on the achievable secrecy performance by reducing the achievable diversity order to two.
This paper quantifies the impact of correlated fading on secure communication of multiple amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying networks. In such a network, the base station (BS) is equipped with multiple antennas and communicates with the destination through multiple AF relays, while the message from the relays can be overheard by an eavesdropper. We focus on the practical communication scenario, where the main and eavesdropper's channels are correlated. In order to enhance the transmission security, transmit antenna selection is performed at the BS, and the best relay is chosen according to the full- or partial-relay selection criterion, which relies on the dual-hop relay channels or the second-hop relay channels, respectively. For these criteria, we study the impact of correlated fading on the network secrecy performance, by deriving an analytical approximation for the secrecy outage probability and an asymptotic expression for the high main-to-eavesdropper ratio. From these results, it is concluded that the channel correlation is always beneficial to the secrecy performance of full relay selection. However, it deteriorates the secrecy performance if partial-relay selection is used, when the number of antennas at the BS is less than the number of relays.
In this paper, a source communicates to the destination with the cooperation of a relay, in the presence of an eavesdropper. All the links undergo Rayleigh fading and perfect decoding at the relays is not considered. The secrecy outage probability expression is evaluated for a decode-and-forward (DF) dual-hop cooperative relay network, both with and without the presence of direct source to eavesdropper transmission link. The performance of the maximal ratio combining (MRC) and selection combining (SC) diversity at the eavesdropper is investigated. Asymptotic and diversity gain analysis for both the single relay and multi-relay system is obtained, when average SNRs of source-relay and relay-destination links are balanced or unbalanced. We have shown that the increase in target secrecy rate and eavesdropper channel quality significantly affects the outage performance of the system. We have investigated the outage probability of optimal relay selection scheme, when either full instantaneous channel state information (ICSI) or statistical channel state information (SCSI) of all the links is available and have shown that there is improvement in the secrecy performance with the increase in the number of relays.
In this paper, a confidential communication scenario is considered through selection decode-and-forward cooperative relay networks over Rayleigh fading channel in which a source communicates with a destination via multiple relays. A best relay is selected using selection combining technique which communicates with the destination. An eavesdropper observes their communication and tries to decode confidential information. In this situation, an interest is given to ensure secure communication between the best relay and the destination so that eavesdropper is unable to decode any information from the main channel (i.e. channel between relay and destination). The performance of the proposed model is analyzed based on the closed-form analytical expressions of the ergodic secrecy capacity and the secure outage probability taking into account the distances of relays from the source, destination and the eavesdropper. Analytical results show that the additional diversity provided by the best relay situated in a strategic location significantly improves the secure outage performance of the selection decode-and-forward relay networks.
In this study, we deal with a cooperative wireless communications system of security constraints in which there is no knowledge about channel state information (CSI) of the eavesdropper. In order to improve the tradeoff between security and reliability, we opportunistically employ relays via an incremental and selective cooperation with respect to the CSI of the main link. In this cooperation, named as opportunistic cooperative transmission (OCT), the first priority is communication through the direct link as far as possible. However, a relay that has the best link to the main destination is employed for retransmitting the source information when the direct link is so weak which cannot provide a specific quality. In fact, since improving the reliability of the favorable communications by use of the relays increases the risk of successful interception by the eavesdropper at the same time, the OCT scheme tries to avoid excess of rebroadcasting the secret information by the relays whenever the direct link is strong enough; otherwise it employs an opportunistically selected relayed link. Hence, it can improve the security for a specific level of reliability and vice versa. We derive closed-form expressions for the security-reliability tradeoff (SRT) and secrecy outage probability (SOP) of the OCT scheme. Moreover, we provide asymptotic analyses which are illustrative on the security behavior of the proposed scheme. Finally, simulation results are presented which confirm validity of the analysis and reveal the desired performance of OCT in terms of both SRT and SOP.