The broadcast nature of wireless networks makes them vulnerable to eavesdropping attacks; therefore, physical layer security (PLS) becomes essential to protect the signal at the physical layer. In this paper, we investigate PLS aspects in terms of the secrecy capacity (SC) in hybrid radio frequency (RF)/visible light communication (VLC) networks. First, we design RF-and VLC-based beamforming vectors to maximize the achievable SC. Moreover, using these vectors, we solve the power minimization problem satisfying the required SC. The results provide useful insights into how the eavesdropper's location affects the power consumption profile. Finally, the results reveal that the performance of the VLC network in terms of the consumed power per bits/s/Hz is more efficient than the RF one.
In this paper, we consider the secrecy of a hybrid radio frequency (RF)/visible light communication (VLC) system equipped with decode-and-forward relaying. We develop physical layer security algorithms that mitigate eavesdropping on both RF and VLC networks based on zero-forcing beamforming techniques. We evaluate the system performance in terms of secrecy capacity (SC) and outage probability (OP) for two network scenarios, namely non-cooperative (NCPS) and cooperative power saving (CPS) models. The NCPS case assumes fixed power at both source and relay while the CPS case assumes total average power shared between the source and relay. Our objective is to find the minimum power that satisfies a specific SC for both cases. Our simulation results show that CPS policy achieves higher SC and maintain lower OP compared with the NCPS one for the same amount of power. We also show that, for both cases, the hybrid RF/VLC network can improve SC compared with standalone RF or VLC networks.
In this paper, we study physical layer security (PLS) aspects of a hybrid radio frequency (RF)/visible light communication (VLC) system with multiple decode-and-forward relaying nodes equipped with friendly jamming capabilities. We first propose a novel joint relay–jammer selection algorithm to enhance the secrecy performance of the network. Next, we obtain beamforming vectors and the minimal power values, which satisfy the required secrecy threshold. Our simulation results show that the proposed hybrid RF/VLC scheme obtains higher secrecy capacity compared to the standalone VLC and RF technologies. Finally, we proved the proposed technique to be an eavesdropping-resilient PLS solution.
This letter studies the security performance of hybrid radio frequency (RF) and visible light communication (VLC) system. In this hybrid system, the source node (i.e., Alice) transmits information to the relay node via the outdoor RF link. Nakagami-m fading and path loss are considered for the RF link. The relay using the decode-and-forward (DF) relaying scheme. A legitimate receiver (Bob) arranged on the floor receives the optical signal. An eavesdropper (Eve) deployed in VLC link wiretaps the confidential information. In this paper, secrecy outage probability (SOP) is used to assess the performance of the system. We derive the closed expression of the lower bound of SOP when VLC link is wiretapped. Numerical results to validate the accuracy of our derivation.
Visible light communication (VLC) has emerged as a promising candidate to complement and enhance the performance of the existing radio frequency (RF) networks in indoor environments. Due to the broadcast nature of both RF and VLC channels, improving the transmission confidentiality is a requirement in practical wireless networks. Physical-layer security has emerged to provide a first line of defense against eavesdropping attacks. In this paper, we study the physical layer security problem of a hybrid RF/VLC system. First, we formulate the minimization problem of the consumed electrical power in the hybrid RF/VLC network while satisfying the user's required secrecy rate. Then, we propose a zero forcing beamforming strategy and a minimum power allocation algorithm. Simulations results show that the proposed power allocation and beamforming algorithms outperform the benchmark algorithms in terms of the average consumed electrical power in various indoor scenarios.
In this paper, a cooperative hybrid visible light communication (VLC)-radio frequency (RF) system with spatially random terminals is considered. Especially, a source node (
S) with a group of light-emitting diode (LED) lamps transmits information bits to a destination (
D), which is located out of
S’s coverage area, via a relay node (
R).
Ris equipped with a photodetector and an antenna to set up a VLC link between
Sand
R, and a radio frequency (RF) link between
Rand
D, respectively. Meanwhile, an eavesdropper (
E) equipped with a photodetector and an antenna tries to overhear the information delivery over VLC and RF links. Also, diversity receiving scheme is considered at
E, while the same modulation scheme is considered over both VLC and RF links. Furthermore, decode-and-forward scheme is adopted at
Rto process and forward the received VLC signals. By employing stochastic geometry, we first characterize the probability density function and cumulative distribution function of the received signal-to-noise-ratio over both VLC and RF links, while considering the randomness of the locations of both
R,
E, and
D. Then, the secrecy performance of the target system is studied by deriving the approximated expressions for the secrecy outage probability under various cases. Finally, the proposed analytical models are verified via Monte-Carlo simulations.