Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Globecom

Physical-Layer Security for Indoor Visible Light Communications with Space Shift Keying Modulation

Osama Al Haj Hassan, Erdal Panayırcı, H. Vincent Poor, Harald Haas

Published Dec 1, 2018• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In this paper, a novel physical layer security technique is presented for indoor visible light communications (VLC) systems based on optical spatial shift keying (OSSK). Transmitters are equipped with light emitting diode (LED) arrays and in OSSK information is carried only by the LED indices rather than the transmitted symbols themselves. Assuming that the source has the channel state information (CSI) of the optical channel gains between the LEDs and a legitimate user, a pre-equalizer is designed for the transmitter, which transforms the actual channel gains into a new channel realization in which equalized channel coefficients are widely apart from each other in multiple LED fixtures within the power constraint. Since the eavesdropper's channel is not equalized, its bit error rate performance is profoundly degraded. In addition, it is shown that the proposed technique does not need to have the CSI of the eavesdropper. Also an analytical expression is derived to evaluate the capacity of OSSK exactly from which the achievable secrecy capacity of the proposed scheme is obtained easily by computer simulations. In the computer simulations, the channels for different scenarios are generated by Zemax©, which is an optical design software with ray-tracing capabilities. Simulation results show that, as excellent bit error rate (BER) performance is achieved by the legitimate user, the performance of the eavesdropper degrades to a level that it is not possible to receive any meaningful information.

DOI
10.1109/glocom.2018.8648035

Related papers

Physical Layer Security for Multi-User MIMO Visible Light Communication Systems With Generalized Space Shift Keying

Nugman Su, Erdal Panayırcı, Mutlu Koca +3 more

We consider the physical layer security (PLS) of multi-user (MU) multiple-input-multiple-output visible light communication (VLC) systems with an eavesdropper (Eve) and propose a novel spatial constellation design technique based on generalized space shift keying (MU-GSSK-SCD). The received signals of the legitimate users are optimized jointly, such that their bit error ratios (BERs) are minimized and Eve's BER is significantly degraded. The emission power of randomly selected light-emitting diodes is adjusted, by exploiting users' channel state information at the transmitter. Our strategy ensures that legitimate users receive confidential messages fully in an undistorted fashion, while any meaningful leakage to Eve is strongly prohibited, without any artificial noise addition. Every user can decode only its information, hence inter-user security is also guaranteed. The PLS improvements are presented in terms of both BERs and achievable secrecy rates in practical VLC scenarios. For various user configurations, it is shown that MU-GSSK-SCD increases the BER at Eve to the 0.5 level, while providing minimized BERs to the legitimate users. The achievable secrecy rate region is derived for MU-GSSK-SCD and it is shown that full secrecy can be achieved at 0 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) level with a user separation as small as 90 cm.

IEEE Transactions on Communications•Jan 9, 2021•44 citations

Physical-Layer Security in Visible Light Communications

Anil Yeşilkaya, Tezcan Cogalan, Serhat Erküçük +4 more

Optical wireless communications (OWC) and its potential to solve physical layer security (PLS) issues are becoming important research areas in 6G communications systems. In this paper, an overview of PLS in visible light communications (VLC), is presented. Then, two new PLS techniques based on generalized space shift keying (GSSK) modulation with spatial constellation design (SCD) and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) cooperative relaying are introduced. In the first technique, the PLS of the system is enhanced by the appropriate selection of a precoding matrix for randomly activated light emitting diodes (LEDs). With the aid of a legitimate user's (Bob's) channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter (CSIT), the bit error ratio (BER) of Bob is minimized while the BER performance of the potential eavesdroppers (Eves) is significantly degraded. In the second technique, superposition coding with uniform signaling is used at the transmitter and relays. The design of secure beamforming vectors at the relay nodes along with NOMA techniques is used to enhance PLS in a VLC system. Insights gained from the improved security levels of the proposed techniques are used to discuss how PLS can be further improved in future generation communication systems by using VLC.

Joint European Conference on Networks and Communications & 6G Summit (EuCNC/6G Summit)•Mar 1, 2020•27 citations

Secrecy Analysis of Generalized Space-Shift Keying Aided Visible Light Communication

Fasong Wang, Chaowen Liu, Qi Wang +4 more

This paper investigates the physical layer security problem of visible light communication (VLC) systems relying on generalized space-shift keying (GSSK) termed as GSSK-VLC. The GSSK-VLC system considered is assumed to be comprised of three nodes: a transmitter equipped with multiple light-emitting diodes, a legitimate receiver, and a passive eavesdropper. Each of them is equipped with a single photo-detector. Specifically, the average mutual information (AMI) of a GSSK-VLC system is derived. We also obtain both a lower bound and an accurate closed-form expression of the approximate AMI, which can be employed for efficiently estimating the achievable secrecy rate of GSSK-VLC systems. Furthermore, the pairwise error probability and bit error rate of GSSK-VLC systems are analyzed, and again some closed-form expressions are obtained. Additionally, in order to enhance the secrecy performance of the GSSK-VLC system, an optimal LED pattern selection algorithm is proposed under the minimax criterion. We show that the proposed LED pattern selection algorithm is capable of enhancing both the AMI between the transmitter and legitimate user and the achievable secrecy rate of the GSSK-VLC system.

IEEE Access•Jan 1, 2018•28 citations

Physical-layer security for indoor visible light communications

Ayman Mostafa, Lutz Lampe

This paper considers secure transmission over the visible light communication (VLC) channel by the means of physical-layer security techniques. In particular, we consider achievable secrecy rates of the multiple-input, single-output (MISO) wiretap VLC channel. The VLC channel is modeled as a deterministic and real-valued Gaussian channel subject to amplitude constraints. We utilize null-steering and artificial noise strategies to achieve positive secrecy rates when the eavesdropper's channel state information (CSI) is perfectly known and entirely unknown to the transmitter, respectively. In both scenarios, the legitimate receiver's CSI is available to the transmitter. We numerically evaluate achievable secrecy rates under typical VLC scenarios and show that simple precoding techniques can significantly improve the confidentiality of VLC links.

International Conference on Communications•Jun 1, 2014•130 citations

Physical-Layer Security With Optical Generalized Space Shift Keying

Erdal Panayırcı, Anil Yeşilkaya, Tezcan Cogalan +2 more

Spatial modulation (SM) is a promising technique that reduces inter-channel interference while providing high power efficiency and detection simplicity. In order to ensure the secrecy of SM, precoding and friendly jamming are widely adopted in the literature. However, neither of those methods can take advantage of SM. In this paper, a novel spatial constellation design (SCD) technique is proposed to enhance the physical layer security (PLS) of optical generalized space shift keying (GSSK), which can retain some benefits of SM. Due to the lack of small-scale fading, the quasi-static characteristics of the optical channel is used to tailor the received signal at the legitimate user's (Bob's) side. The PLS of the system is guaranteed by the appropriate selection of the power allocation coefficients for randomly activated light emitting diodes (LEDs). With the aid of Bob's channel state information at the transmitter, the bit error ratio (BER) of Bob is minimized while the BER performance of the potential eavesdroppers (Eves) is significantly degraded. Monte-Carlo simulation results show that the proposed SCD-zero forcing precoding (ZFP) forces Eve to experience a BER of around 0.5 by outperforming both the conventional and ZFP based GSSK for all practical signal-to-noise-ratio regimes and Bob-Eve separations.

IEEE Transactions on Communications•Jan 27, 2020•45 citations

Physical-Layer Security for MISO Visible Light Communication Channels

Ayman Mostafa, Lutz Lampe

This paper considers improving the confidentiality of visible light communication (VLC) links within the framework of physical-layer security. We study a VLC scenario with one transmitter, one legitimate receiver, and one eavesdropper. The transmitter has multiple light sources, while the legitimate and unauthorized receivers have a single photodetector, each. We characterize secrecy rates achievable via transmit beamforming over the multiple-input, single-output (MISO) VLC wiretap channel. For VLC systems, intensity modulation (IM) via light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is the most practical transmission scheme. Because of the limited dynamic range of typical LEDs, the modulating signal must satisfy certain amplitude constraints. Hence, we begin with deriving lower and upper bounds on the secrecy capacity of the scalar Gaussian wiretap channel subject to amplitude constraints. Then, we utilize beamforming to obtain a closed-form secrecy rate expression for the MISO wiretap channel. Finally, we propose a robust beamforming scheme to consider the scenario wherein information about the eavesdropper's channel is imperfect due to location uncertainty. A typical application of the proposed scheme is to secure the communication link when the eavesdropper is expected to exist within a specified area. The performance is measured in terms of the worst-case secrecy rate guaranteed under all admissible realizations of the eavesdropper's channel.

IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications•May 13, 2015•254 citations
In this paper, a novel physical layer security technique is presented for indoor visible light communications (VLC) systems based on optical spatial shift keying (OSSK). Transmitters are equipped with light emitting diode (LED) arrays and in OSSK information is carried only by the LED indices rather than the transmitted symbols themselves. Assuming that the source has the channel state information (CSI) of the optical channel gains between the LEDs and a legitimate user, a pre-equalizer is designed for the transmitter, which transforms the actual channel gains into a new channel realization in which equalized channel coefficients are widely apart from each other in multiple LED fixtures within the power constraint. Since the eavesdropper's channel is not equalized, its bit error rate performance is profoundly degraded. In addition, it is shown that the proposed technique does not need to have the CSI of the eavesdropper. Also an analytical expression is derived to evaluate the capacity of OSSK exactly from which the achievable secrecy capacity of the proposed scheme is obtained easily by computer simulations. In the computer simulations, the channels for different scenarios are generated by Zemax©, which is an optical design software with ray-tracing capabilities. Simulation results show that, as excellent bit error rate (BER) performance is achieved by the legitimate user, the performance of the eavesdropper degrades to a level that it is not possible to receive any meaningful information.
We consider the physical layer security (PLS) of multi-user (MU) multiple-input-multiple-output visible light communication (VLC) systems with an eavesdropper (Eve) and propose a novel spatial constellation design technique based on generalized space shift keying (MU-GSSK-SCD). The received signals of the legitimate users are optimized jointly, such that their bit error ratios (BERs) are minimized and Eve's BER is significantly degraded. The emission power of randomly selected light-emitting diodes is adjusted, by exploiting users' channel state information at the transmitter. Our strategy ensures that legitimate users receive confidential messages fully in an undistorted fashion, while any meaningful leakage to Eve is strongly prohibited, without any artificial noise addition. Every user can decode only its information, hence inter-user security is also guaranteed. The PLS improvements are presented in terms of both BERs and achievable secrecy rates in practical VLC scenarios. For various user configurations, it is shown that MU-GSSK-SCD increases the BER at Eve to the 0.5 level, while providing minimized BERs to the legitimate users. The achievable secrecy rate region is derived for MU-GSSK-SCD and it is shown that full secrecy can be achieved at 0 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) level with a user separation as small as 90 cm.
Optical wireless communications (OWC) and its potential to solve physical layer security (PLS) issues are becoming important research areas in 6G communications systems. In this paper, an overview of PLS in visible light communications (VLC), is presented. Then, two new PLS techniques based on generalized space shift keying (GSSK) modulation with spatial constellation design (SCD) and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) cooperative relaying are introduced. In the first technique, the PLS of the system is enhanced by the appropriate selection of a precoding matrix for randomly activated light emitting diodes (LEDs). With the aid of a legitimate user's (Bob's) channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter (CSIT), the bit error ratio (BER) of Bob is minimized while the BER performance of the potential eavesdroppers (Eves) is significantly degraded. In the second technique, superposition coding with uniform signaling is used at the transmitter and relays. The design of secure beamforming vectors at the relay nodes along with NOMA techniques is used to enhance PLS in a VLC system. Insights gained from the improved security levels of the proposed techniques are used to discuss how PLS can be further improved in future generation communication systems by using VLC.
This paper investigates the physical layer security problem of visible light communication (VLC) systems relying on generalized space-shift keying (GSSK) termed as GSSK-VLC. The GSSK-VLC system considered is assumed to be comprised of three nodes: a transmitter equipped with multiple light-emitting diodes, a legitimate receiver, and a passive eavesdropper. Each of them is equipped with a single photo-detector. Specifically, the average mutual information (AMI) of a GSSK-VLC system is derived. We also obtain both a lower bound and an accurate closed-form expression of the approximate AMI, which can be employed for efficiently estimating the achievable secrecy rate of GSSK-VLC systems. Furthermore, the pairwise error probability and bit error rate of GSSK-VLC systems are analyzed, and again some closed-form expressions are obtained. Additionally, in order to enhance the secrecy performance of the GSSK-VLC system, an optimal LED pattern selection algorithm is proposed under the minimax criterion. We show that the proposed LED pattern selection algorithm is capable of enhancing both the AMI between the transmitter and legitimate user and the achievable secrecy rate of the GSSK-VLC system.
This paper considers secure transmission over the visible light communication (VLC) channel by the means of physical-layer security techniques. In particular, we consider achievable secrecy rates of the multiple-input, single-output (MISO) wiretap VLC channel. The VLC channel is modeled as a deterministic and real-valued Gaussian channel subject to amplitude constraints. We utilize null-steering and artificial noise strategies to achieve positive secrecy rates when the eavesdropper's channel state information (CSI) is perfectly known and entirely unknown to the transmitter, respectively. In both scenarios, the legitimate receiver's CSI is available to the transmitter. We numerically evaluate achievable secrecy rates under typical VLC scenarios and show that simple precoding techniques can significantly improve the confidentiality of VLC links.
Spatial modulation (SM) is a promising technique that reduces inter-channel interference while providing high power efficiency and detection simplicity. In order to ensure the secrecy of SM, precoding and friendly jamming are widely adopted in the literature. However, neither of those methods can take advantage of SM. In this paper, a novel spatial constellation design (SCD) technique is proposed to enhance the physical layer security (PLS) of optical generalized space shift keying (GSSK), which can retain some benefits of SM. Due to the lack of small-scale fading, the quasi-static characteristics of the optical channel is used to tailor the received signal at the legitimate user's (Bob's) side. The PLS of the system is guaranteed by the appropriate selection of the power allocation coefficients for randomly activated light emitting diodes (LEDs). With the aid of Bob's channel state information at the transmitter, the bit error ratio (BER) of Bob is minimized while the BER performance of the potential eavesdroppers (Eves) is significantly degraded. Monte-Carlo simulation results show that the proposed SCD-zero forcing precoding (ZFP) forces Eve to experience a BER of around 0.5 by outperforming both the conventional and ZFP based GSSK for all practical signal-to-noise-ratio regimes and Bob-Eve separations.
This paper considers improving the confidentiality of visible light communication (VLC) links within the framework of physical-layer security. We study a VLC scenario with one transmitter, one legitimate receiver, and one eavesdropper. The transmitter has multiple light sources, while the legitimate and unauthorized receivers have a single photodetector, each. We characterize secrecy rates achievable via transmit beamforming over the multiple-input, single-output (MISO) VLC wiretap channel. For VLC systems, intensity modulation (IM) via light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is the most practical transmission scheme. Because of the limited dynamic range of typical LEDs, the modulating signal must satisfy certain amplitude constraints. Hence, we begin with deriving lower and upper bounds on the secrecy capacity of the scalar Gaussian wiretap channel subject to amplitude constraints. Then, we utilize beamforming to obtain a closed-form secrecy rate expression for the MISO wiretap channel. Finally, we propose a robust beamforming scheme to consider the scenario wherein information about the eavesdropper's channel is imperfect due to location uncertainty. A typical application of the proposed scheme is to secure the communication link when the eavesdropper is expected to exist within a specified area. The performance is measured in terms of the worst-case secrecy rate guaranteed under all admissible realizations of the eavesdropper's channel.