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IEEE Transactions on Communications

Abating Jamming in Free Space Optical Systems—A Game-Theoretic Solution

Pratiti Paul, Saptarshi Ghosh, Manav R. Bhatnagar

Published Sep 3, 2021• 20 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Free space optical (FSO) channel provides a significantly large transmission capacity. However, in the presence of random jamming attacks, the efficacy of FSO communication channel can be affected critically. In this paper, the discrete-input continuous-output memoryless channel (DCMC) capacity of a single-input single-output FSO communication system is investigated under the random jamming effects. The ergodic channel capacity analysis is performed over additive non-Gaussian noise channel (jamming noise channel). The derived closed-form expression of DCMC capacity for the considered FSO system and also, the effects of partial-band jamming and broadband jamming over the FSO channel capacity are verified through simulation results. It is observed that the FSO channel capacity is very sensitive to the degree of jamming and the ergodic channel capacity alters crucially even for small change in jamming probability. The derived results are utilized to study the considered network in the presence of a rational jammer whose ability to jam is limited by its battery capacity. The presence of a rational jammer is addressed by modelling the interaction between the FSO transmitter and the jammer as a non-cooperative game. The closed-form expressions of the equilibrium of the proposed game are derived and verified through simulation. The game-theoretic solution provides a performance improvement of 74% in comparison to uniform power allocation.

DOI
10.1109/tcomm.2021.3109941

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Free space optical (FSO) channel provides a significantly large transmission capacity. However, in the presence of random jamming attacks, the efficacy of FSO communication channel can be affected critically. In this paper, the discrete-input continuous-output memoryless channel (DCMC) capacity of a single-input single-output FSO communication system is investigated under the random jamming effects. The ergodic channel capacity analysis is performed over additive non-Gaussian noise channel (jamming noise channel). The derived closed-form expression of DCMC capacity for the considered FSO system and also, the effects of partial-band jamming and broadband jamming over the FSO channel capacity are verified through simulation results. It is observed that the FSO channel capacity is very sensitive to the degree of jamming and the ergodic channel capacity alters crucially even for small change in jamming probability. The derived results are utilized to study the considered network in the presence of a rational jammer whose ability to jam is limited by its battery capacity. The presence of a rational jammer is addressed by modelling the interaction between the FSO transmitter and the jammer as a non-cooperative game. The closed-form expressions of the equilibrium of the proposed game are derived and verified through simulation. The game-theoretic solution provides a performance improvement of 74% in comparison to uniform power allocation.
This work is concerned with the physical layer security of the free space optical (FSO) communication network comprising of a transmitter, a receiver, an eavesdropper (Eve), and a friendly reactive jammer that aims to thwart the activity of the Eve. As the key feature of this work, we calculate the discrete-input-continuous-output for memory-less channel (DCMC) capacity of the authentic and eavesdropping channel in the presence of the atmospheric turbulence characterised by$\alpha -\mu $probability density function (PDF), zero and non-zero boresight pointing error, and partial band or broadband jamming noise. For this purpose, novel PDFs for all-encompassing conditions of FSO channel and the received signals at different nodes of the considered system are formulated. Thereafter, we devise schemes to wane the effect of a vicious Eve by formulating novel closed-form expressions of average secrecy capacity for both strategies. Our derived analytical expressions can be used as tools to examine the DCMC capacity and secrecy capacity for different turbulence regimes of FSO link, severity of boresight errors, and activity of a friendly jammer. The mathematical results are affirmed by Monte-Carlo simulation. We exhibit that deploying a friendly jammer to assist enhancing the security of an FSO system is very conducive as it makes the Eve to hike its signal-to-jamming-noise ratio by almost 10 dB when the jammer’s activity increases from 10% to 100% of the time frame of data transmission.
Free-space optical (FSO) quantum communication offers strong potential for secure, high capacity data transmission, but remains vulnerable to covert physical-layer attacks. This paper presents a rigorous analysis of vacuum state jamming—an adversarial strategy where the jammer probabilistically replaces transmitted pulses with vacuum states, thereby reducing effective photon counts without adding excess noise. We consider a binary phase-shift keying coherent-state quantum system over a Gamma–Gamma atmospheric turbulence channel. A consistent mixture model is developed for the jammed states, and optimal Helstrom detection is applied to derive exact expressions for the quantum bit error rate (QBER) under turbulence and jamming. For secure information throughput, the Holevo capacity is evaluated numerically from density operator eigenvalues. Numerical results confirm that vacuum jamming induces measurable degradation of both QBER and Holevo capacity, with stronger effects under high turbulence and lower signal energies. Comparisons between exact integral results and common approximations highlight the latter’s limited validity range. The framework not only quantifies the resilience of quantum FSO links against vacuum jamming, but also provides a foundation for developing jamming-aware monitoring and countermeasures.
This paper presents a study of the physical layer security performance of a mixed radio frequency-free space optical (RF-FSO) system with a wireless-powered friendly jammer. The RF links undergo the Nakagami-m fading, and the FSO link experiences the Exponentiated Weibull (EW) distribution. A two-hop decode-and-forward (DF) relay is present in the system. A single-antenna eavesdropper located on the RF link attempts to eavesdrop on the channel transmission information. There is a nearby multi-antenna jammer that can be charged wirelessly, and a save-then-transmit (ST) protocol is introduced in the jammer. The closed expressions for the secrecy outage probability (SOP) and the average secrecy capacity (ASC) of the mixed RF-FSO system are derived, and the correctness of the expressions is verified using the Monte-Carlo method. The influence of various key factors on the secrecy performance of the system is analyzed by simulations. The results show that increasing the average interference noise ratio, the number of interferer antennas, the time block allocation factor, and the size of the receiving aperture has a significant effect on the secrecy performance. This study provides a new system structure and a good theoretical basis for evaluating the physical layer security performance of mixed RF-FSO systems.
With the continued development of optical wireless communications, the security performance of free space optical (FSO) communications is the most crucial aspect that should receive significant attention. Despite the fact that FSO communications are considered more secure than radio frequency systems, their link performance degrades due to some environmental factors such as atmospheric turbulence, fog, and non-zero boresight pointing errors. The combined effect of these factors on the secrecy performance of FSO communication systems over the generalized Malaga- M fading channel is investigated in this paper. This work assumes a more realistic eavesdropping scenario in which both legitimate and unauthorized receivers are located on the same receiving plane. Secrecy outage probability and strictly positive secrecy capacity are expressed in exact closed-form expressions in this work. The results show that the FSO system has acceptable secrecy performance in moderate and light fog, with potential reach distances ranging from hundreds of meters to a few kilometers. Monte-Carlo simulations are used to verify the numerical results.
The security issue is investigated from a physical layer perspective in the context of free-space optical (FSO) communications. More precisely, the performance of secure FSO link with intensity modulation/direct detection over Málaga (M) atmospheric turbulence channels that accounts for pointing errors is addressed in this letter. The closed-form expressions for the average secrecy capacity, the secrecy outage probability and the strictly positive secrecy capacity are derived by considering the specific nature of FSO channels modeled by the general M distribution. Monte-Carlo simulations are provided to verify the accuracy of our derivations.
In this paper, the impact of radio frequency (RF) cochannel interference (CCI) on the performance of multiuser mixed RF/free-space optical (FSO) relay network with opportunistic user scheduling under eavesdropping attack is studied. The considered system includes multiple users, one decode-and forward relay, one destination, and an eavesdropper. In the analysis, the RF/FSO channels follow Nakagami-m/Gamma-Gamma fading models, respectively, with pointing errors on the FSO link. Exact closed-form expression for the system outage probability is derived. Then, an asymptotic expression for the outage probability is obtained at the high signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio regime to get more insights on the system performance. Moreover, the obtained results are used to find the optimal transmission power in different turbulence conditions. The secrecy performance is studied in the presence of CCI at both the authorized relay and eavesdropper, where closed-form expressions are derived for the intercept probability. The physical layer security performance is enhanced using cooperative jamming models, where new closed-form expressions are derived for the intercept probability. Another power allocation optimization problem is formulated to find the optimal transmission and jamming powers. The derived analytical formulas are supported by numerical results to clarify the main contributions of this paper.