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

IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques

Physical Layer Secret Key Generation Using Joint Interference and Phase Shift Keying Modulation

Najme Ebrahimi, Hun-Seok Kim, David T. Blaauw

Published Feb 24, 2021• 28 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In existing physical layer security (PLS) and key generation protocols, major assumptions, including channel reciprocity, localization, and synchronization between the legitimate parties, are often considered. However, these assumptions are arguable in practice leading to major barriers in building systems based on PLS protocols. To overcome these barriers, we proposed, designed, and implemented a novel embedded architecture for distributed Internet-of-Things (IoT) networks that utilize a master-slave full-duplex communication to exchange a random secret key. In the proposed architecture, an IoT node generates a phase-modulated random key/data and transmits it to a master node in the presence of an eavesdropper, referred to as Eve. The master node, simultaneously, broadcasts a high-power signal using an omnidirectional antenna, which is received as a jammer signal or interference by Eve. This results in a high bit error rate (BER) making the data undetectable by Eve. The two legitimate nodes communicate in a full-duplex fashion and, consequently, subtract their transmitted signals from the received signal (self-interference cancellation). Our proposed protocol does not require any knowledge of the node locations. In particular, we show, using theoretical and measurement results, that our proposed approach provides significantly better security measures, in terms of the BER at Eve's location, compared to a conventional method based on directional beamforming antennas. Also, it is proved that in our novel system, the possible eavesdropping region, BER-1, is always smaller than the reliable communication region, BER-3.

DOI
10.1109/tmtt.2021.3058183

Related papers

A Novel Physical Layer Security Technique Using Master-Slave Full Duplex Communication

Najme Ebrahimi, Behzad Yektakhah, Kamal Sarabandi +3 more

In this work we present a novel technique for physical layer security in the Internet-of-Things (IoT) networks. In the proposed architecture, each IoT node generates a phase-modulated random key/data and transmits it to a master node in the presence of an eavesdropper, referred to as Eve. The master node, simultaneously, broadcasts a high power signal using an omni-directional antenna, which is received as interference by Eve. This interference masks the generated key by the IoT node and will result in a higher bit-error rate in the data received by Eve. The two legitimate intended nodes communicate in a full-duplex manner and, consequently, subtract their transmitted signals, as a known reference, from the received signal (self-interference cancellation). We compare our proposed method with a conventional approach to physical layer security based on directional antennas. In particular, we show, using theoretical and measurement results, that our proposed approach provides significantly better security measures, in terms bit error rate (BER) at Eve's location. Also, it is proven that in our novel system, the possible eavesdropping region, defined by the region with BER-1, is always smaller than the reliable communication region with BER-3.

IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium digest•Jun 1, 2019•11 citations

Simultaneous Interference-Data Transmission for Secret Key Generation in Distributed IoT Sensor Networks

Najme Ebrahimi, Hun-Seok Kim, David T. Blaauw

Internet of Things (IoT) networks for smart sensor nodes in the next generation of smart wireless sensing systems require a distributed security scheme to prevent the passive (eavesdropping) or active (jamming and interference) attacks from untrusted sensor nodes. This paper concerns advancing the security of the IoT system to address their vulnerability to being attacked or compromised by the advancement of future supercomputers. In this work, a novel embedded architecture has been designed and implemented for a distributed IoT network that utilizes a master-slave full-duplex communication to exchange the random and continuous modulated phase shift as the secret key to be used in higher-layer encryptions.

arXiv:1910.13355•Oct 29, 2019•0 citations

Security Performance of the Distributed Antenna IoT Network with Full-Duplex Wireless Power Transfer

Ming Liu, Yuming Mao, Supeng Leng +1 more

Conventional cryptographic method faces enormous issues in future internet of things (IoT) networks such as key distribution and computational complexity. Physical layer security has been concerned as a potential technology for IoT networks. In this paper, we investigate the secrecy performance of a distributed antenna IoT network with full-duplex (FD) wireless power transfer. Under the composite wireless channel assumption, we establish the model for receiving signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of both hybrid distributed antennas and the eavesdropper. The closed-form expressions for secrecy capacity of the IoT network is derived with the consideration of impact from both jammers and the eavesdropper. Furthermore, the secrecy outage probability in terms of target secrecy data rate is derived. Simulation results show both secrecy capacity and secrecy outage probability under different network configurations, which evince the effect of the distributed antenna number, the self-interference cancellation factor, and the target secrecy rate on the secrecy performance.

Globecom•Dec 1, 2018•0 citations

A Novel Approach to Secure Communication in Physical Layer via Coupled Dynamical Systems

Najme Ebrahimi, Hessam Mahdavifar, Ehsan Afshari

A new framework for secure communication in physical layer is proposed. A network of users equipped with coupled dynamical systems is considered. The aim is to securely exchange messages between network nodes in the presence of an eavesdropper, referred to as Eve. Unlike a traditional wireless system, the messages to be conveyed are not sent directly through the medium. Instead, they are mapped to initial conditions of the dynamical system. Once the system converges to a steady state, conditions of the local system at each node is measured to recover the sent messages. A fundamental property of the proposed system which makes it secure is that Eve is not part of the dynamical system and hence, she does not observe the initial conditions of the nodes for steady state comparison measurement. In particular, a situation with two users is considered. The proposed system is then modeled as a two-way wiretap channel and the secrecy capacity region is derived under various conditions. A consequence of our result is that regardless of Eve's physical location and how strong her receiver is the achievable rates are positive, i.e., secure communication is possible. Furthermore, a radio frequency (RF) system is proposed to realize this model in a wireless setting by means of local coupled oscillators. In particular, a unidirectional master-slave coupling architecture is considered where a power-constrained slave node synchronizes its frequency with a high-power master node. It is shown how the coupling mechanism, realized by transmitting and receiving power between the RF front-ends of the master and the slave node, can be used by the slave node to securely send messages or to share secret keys with the master node. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first architecture providing physical layer secret key generation fully designed in the RF front-end. The proposed RF system is simulated using Advanced Design System (ADS). The simulation results are shown for a 10m channel link and confirm the security condition. The secret key generation rate is 2 bits per synchronization time-frame which is dominated by the wave propagation delay between the two nodes.

Globecom•Dec 1, 2018•12 citations

Improving the Physical Layer Security of the Internet of Things (IoT)

Ali Alsadi, Seshadri Mohan

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the most promising technological revolutions. However, the IoT is inherently vulnerable to attacks. In this paper, we propose to enhance the physical layer security of the IoT by using a technique called information passing and interference addition. In the physical layer security analysis, the achieved secrecy rate has an inverse relationship with the intruder's distance to the legitimate transmitter. Our work is, first, to increase the achievable secrecy rate by letting the legitimate transmitter find an alternative route to the fusion center that could achieve a higher secrecy rate than the direct route. Hence, the legitimate transmitter must not disclose the actual information to the fusion center if there is an eavesdropper located between them, and rather must pass its information to another node via a directional antenna to concentrate the power towards the intended receiving node. Passing the information to the nearest node must happen under the condition that there is no intruder in between. Second, we use simultaneous multi-stream beamforming transmission to strengthen the legitimate receiver's signal-to-noise ratios and at the same time poison the eavesdropper channel with interference. Third, we disclose false information to the intruder. We created the system design and investigated the secrecy analysis of that system. Also, we discussed the use of directional antennas on the legitimate nodes. The result showed that using directional antennas would increase the probability of having at least one secure connection coming out of the node to the other legitimate nodes. Moreover, the results showed that using the simultaneous multi-stream beamforming improved the legitimate channel's achievable secrecy rate and that it has superiority over the directional antenna effect.

IEEE International Smart Cities Conference (ISC2)•Sep 1, 2018•0 citations

Time Reversal Precoding with Artificial Noise Injection for Physical Layer Security

Sidney Golstein

An increasing number of devices exchanges data via the wireless medium into large scale, decentralized, and heterogeneous networks, leading to the concept of Internet of Things (IoT). This PhD work proposes a new practical scheme to perform physical layer security (PLS) in this IoT context.Wireless communications in IoT networks are prone to passive eavesdropping. Therefore, this work introduces a scheme that guarantees the reliability of a communication from a transmitter (Alice) towards a legitimate user (Bob), while preventing multiple passive eavesdroppers (Eve) to correctly decode the data in a worst-cases scenario, thereby considering i) Eve to be noiseless, ii) Eve equipped with an arbitrarily large number of antennas, iii) Alice imperfectly estimating Bob's channel state information (CSI). To do so, a frequency domain time-reversal (TR) precoder is proposed using orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) and artificial noise (AN) injection. The scheme exploits the frequency diversity selective behaviour in multipath channels, and can be incorporated into existing standards, such as in LTE or 5G networks. Different configurations are investigated, namely, single-input single-output (SISO), multiple-input single-output (MISO), and single-input multiple-output (SIMO) systems.The handshake procedures between Alice and Bob are described, both in time-division duplexing (TDD) and frequency-division duplexing (FDD) systems, highlighting the amount of CSI acquisition at Eve, which influences the secrecy performances. Depending on the handshake procedures, different decoding structures are investigated at Eve for each system configuration, considering a block-fading environment. Closed-form approximations of the signal-to-noise ratio required at Bob and the maximal CSI error that can be made at Alice, in order to guarantee a communication ergodic secrecy rate (ESR), are derived. Furthermore, the optimal amount of AN energy to inject, as well as the maximal number of eavesdropper's antennas allowed, considering imperfect CSI, are also given as closed-form expressions. A trade-off on the choice of the spreading factor of the TR precoder is established between maximizing the ESR and decreasing the percentage of outage, leading to information leaked to Eve. Finally, thanks to these results, Alice can be a-priori aware of the ESR over which she can establish a secure communication, assuming worst-case assumptions regarding the eavesdroppers. The PLS scheme presented in this PhD work therefore emerges as a promising solution to secure wireless communications in IoT networks.

•Feb 15, 2022•0 citations
In existing physical layer security (PLS) and key generation protocols, major assumptions, including channel reciprocity, localization, and synchronization between the legitimate parties, are often considered. However, these assumptions are arguable in practice leading to major barriers in building systems based on PLS protocols. To overcome these barriers, we proposed, designed, and implemented a novel embedded architecture for distributed Internet-of-Things (IoT) networks that utilize a master-slave full-duplex communication to exchange a random secret key. In the proposed architecture, an IoT node generates a phase-modulated random key/data and transmits it to a master node in the presence of an eavesdropper, referred to as Eve. The master node, simultaneously, broadcasts a high-power signal using an omnidirectional antenna, which is received as a jammer signal or interference by Eve. This results in a high bit error rate (BER) making the data undetectable by Eve. The two legitimate nodes communicate in a full-duplex fashion and, consequently, subtract their transmitted signals from the received signal (self-interference cancellation). Our proposed protocol does not require any knowledge of the node locations. In particular, we show, using theoretical and measurement results, that our proposed approach provides significantly better security measures, in terms of the BER at Eve's location, compared to a conventional method based on directional beamforming antennas. Also, it is proved that in our novel system, the possible eavesdropping region, BER-1, is always smaller than the reliable communication region, BER-3.
In this work we present a novel technique for physical layer security in the Internet-of-Things (IoT) networks. In the proposed architecture, each IoT node generates a phase-modulated random key/data and transmits it to a master node in the presence of an eavesdropper, referred to as Eve. The master node, simultaneously, broadcasts a high power signal using an omni-directional antenna, which is received as interference by Eve. This interference masks the generated key by the IoT node and will result in a higher bit-error rate in the data received by Eve. The two legitimate intended nodes communicate in a full-duplex manner and, consequently, subtract their transmitted signals, as a known reference, from the received signal (self-interference cancellation). We compare our proposed method with a conventional approach to physical layer security based on directional antennas. In particular, we show, using theoretical and measurement results, that our proposed approach provides significantly better security measures, in terms bit error rate (BER) at Eve's location. Also, it is proven that in our novel system, the possible eavesdropping region, defined by the region with BER-1, is always smaller than the reliable communication region with BER-3.
Internet of Things (IoT) networks for smart sensor nodes in the next generation of smart wireless sensing systems require a distributed security scheme to prevent the passive (eavesdropping) or active (jamming and interference) attacks from untrusted sensor nodes. This paper concerns advancing the security of the IoT system to address their vulnerability to being attacked or compromised by the advancement of future supercomputers. In this work, a novel embedded architecture has been designed and implemented for a distributed IoT network that utilizes a master-slave full-duplex communication to exchange the random and continuous modulated phase shift as the secret key to be used in higher-layer encryptions.
Conventional cryptographic method faces enormous issues in future internet of things (IoT) networks such as key distribution and computational complexity. Physical layer security has been concerned as a potential technology for IoT networks. In this paper, we investigate the secrecy performance of a distributed antenna IoT network with full-duplex (FD) wireless power transfer. Under the composite wireless channel assumption, we establish the model for receiving signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of both hybrid distributed antennas and the eavesdropper. The closed-form expressions for secrecy capacity of the IoT network is derived with the consideration of impact from both jammers and the eavesdropper. Furthermore, the secrecy outage probability in terms of target secrecy data rate is derived. Simulation results show both secrecy capacity and secrecy outage probability under different network configurations, which evince the effect of the distributed antenna number, the self-interference cancellation factor, and the target secrecy rate on the secrecy performance.
A new framework for secure communication in physical layer is proposed. A network of users equipped with coupled dynamical systems is considered. The aim is to securely exchange messages between network nodes in the presence of an eavesdropper, referred to as Eve. Unlike a traditional wireless system, the messages to be conveyed are not sent directly through the medium. Instead, they are mapped to initial conditions of the dynamical system. Once the system converges to a steady state, conditions of the local system at each node is measured to recover the sent messages. A fundamental property of the proposed system which makes it secure is that Eve is not part of the dynamical system and hence, she does not observe the initial conditions of the nodes for steady state comparison measurement. In particular, a situation with two users is considered. The proposed system is then modeled as a two-way wiretap channel and the secrecy capacity region is derived under various conditions. A consequence of our result is that regardless of Eve's physical location and how strong her receiver is the achievable rates are positive, i.e., secure communication is possible. Furthermore, a radio frequency (RF) system is proposed to realize this model in a wireless setting by means of local coupled oscillators. In particular, a unidirectional master-slave coupling architecture is considered where a power-constrained slave node synchronizes its frequency with a high-power master node. It is shown how the coupling mechanism, realized by transmitting and receiving power between the RF front-ends of the master and the slave node, can be used by the slave node to securely send messages or to share secret keys with the master node. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first architecture providing physical layer secret key generation fully designed in the RF front-end. The proposed RF system is simulated using Advanced Design System (ADS). The simulation results are shown for a 10m channel link and confirm the security condition. The secret key generation rate is 2 bits per synchronization time-frame which is dominated by the wave propagation delay between the two nodes.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the most promising technological revolutions. However, the IoT is inherently vulnerable to attacks. In this paper, we propose to enhance the physical layer security of the IoT by using a technique called information passing and interference addition. In the physical layer security analysis, the achieved secrecy rate has an inverse relationship with the intruder's distance to the legitimate transmitter. Our work is, first, to increase the achievable secrecy rate by letting the legitimate transmitter find an alternative route to the fusion center that could achieve a higher secrecy rate than the direct route. Hence, the legitimate transmitter must not disclose the actual information to the fusion center if there is an eavesdropper located between them, and rather must pass its information to another node via a directional antenna to concentrate the power towards the intended receiving node. Passing the information to the nearest node must happen under the condition that there is no intruder in between. Second, we use simultaneous multi-stream beamforming transmission to strengthen the legitimate receiver's signal-to-noise ratios and at the same time poison the eavesdropper channel with interference. Third, we disclose false information to the intruder. We created the system design and investigated the secrecy analysis of that system. Also, we discussed the use of directional antennas on the legitimate nodes. The result showed that using directional antennas would increase the probability of having at least one secure connection coming out of the node to the other legitimate nodes. Moreover, the results showed that using the simultaneous multi-stream beamforming improved the legitimate channel's achievable secrecy rate and that it has superiority over the directional antenna effect.
An increasing number of devices exchanges data via the wireless medium into large scale, decentralized, and heterogeneous networks, leading to the concept of Internet of Things (IoT). This PhD work proposes a new practical scheme to perform physical layer security (PLS) in this IoT context.Wireless communications in IoT networks are prone to passive eavesdropping. Therefore, this work introduces a scheme that guarantees the reliability of a communication from a transmitter (Alice) towards a legitimate user (Bob), while preventing multiple passive eavesdroppers (Eve) to correctly decode the data in a worst-cases scenario, thereby considering i) Eve to be noiseless, ii) Eve equipped with an arbitrarily large number of antennas, iii) Alice imperfectly estimating Bob's channel state information (CSI). To do so, a frequency domain time-reversal (TR) precoder is proposed using orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) and artificial noise (AN) injection. The scheme exploits the frequency diversity selective behaviour in multipath channels, and can be incorporated into existing standards, such as in LTE or 5G networks. Different configurations are investigated, namely, single-input single-output (SISO), multiple-input single-output (MISO), and single-input multiple-output (SIMO) systems.The handshake procedures between Alice and Bob are described, both in time-division duplexing (TDD) and frequency-division duplexing (FDD) systems, highlighting the amount of CSI acquisition at Eve, which influences the secrecy performances. Depending on the handshake procedures, different decoding structures are investigated at Eve for each system configuration, considering a block-fading environment. Closed-form approximations of the signal-to-noise ratio required at Bob and the maximal CSI error that can be made at Alice, in order to guarantee a communication ergodic secrecy rate (ESR), are derived. Furthermore, the optimal amount of AN energy to inject, as well as the maximal number of eavesdropper's antennas allowed, considering imperfect CSI, are also given as closed-form expressions. A trade-off on the choice of the spreading factor of the TR precoder is established between maximizing the ESR and decreasing the percentage of outage, leading to information leaked to Eve. Finally, thanks to these results, Alice can be a-priori aware of the ESR over which she can establish a secure communication, assuming worst-case assumptions regarding the eavesdroppers. The PLS scheme presented in this PhD work therefore emerges as a promising solution to secure wireless communications in IoT networks.