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

International Symposium on Wireless Communication Systems

Estimation of the Secret Key Rate in Wideband Wireless Physical-Layer-Security

Marco Zoli, Miroslav Mitev, Andre Noll Barreto, Gerhard Paul Fettweis

Published Sep 6, 2021• 15 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In this work we investigate the problem of secret key generation (SKG) between two communicating wireless devices, according to the physical-layer security paradigm. We propose a general framework for any communication channel or waveform. In details, we study a filterbank-based method, which allows the generation of secret security keys from a wideband radio channel, independently from the baseband modem implementation. We believe that channel awareness is of utmost importance to understand the applicability of SKG methods, i.e., knowing their secret bit-rate under different channel scenarios. For that purpose, we investigate the SKG performance by means of Monte Carlo simulations that collect radio channel statistics and obtain the SKG performance through mutual information numerical estimation.

DOI
10.1109/iswcs49558.2021.9562135

Related papers

Filterbank Secret Key Generation Rates in Multipath Channels

Miroslav Mitev, Andre Noll Barreto, Thuy M. Pham +2 more

The sixth generation of wireless networks (6G) is expected to support the deployment of Internet of things (IoT) devices in massive scales. Finding lightweight and decentralized secret-key distribution primitives is therefore a challenge. Secret-key generation (SKG) from wireless channel coefficients is seen as a possible solution. It allows the extraction of secret keys using the channel randomness observed at the physical layer, without a centralized key distribution server. In this work an SKG approach suitable for wideband IoT devices is proposed. We investigate a filterbank-based SKG method, in which secret bits are generated through power measurements over different frequencies. To minimize dependencies and correlation among frequencies the quantile and the Karhunen-Loeve transforms are used. Finally, we perform a numerical evaluation of the achievable SKG rates, in the form of mutual-information (MI) estimates, using 3GPP channel models. Our numerical evaluation shows that the achievable SKG rate depends on the channel statistics, and, hence, to optimally harvest the information, devices need to be channel-aware.

Globecom•Dec 4, 2022•7 citations

Secret Key Generation Rates over Frequency Selective Channels

Miroslav Mitev, Andre Noll Barreto, Thuy M. Pham +1 more

The emergence of Internet of things (IoT) applications brings the challenge of finding lightweight schemes for secret key distribution. A promising solution coming from the physical layer is the so called secret key generation (SKG) from shared randomness. SKG allows two communicating parties to extract the shared randomness already present in wireless channels. This work investigates the achievable SKG rates using received signal strength (RSS) as a key generation parameter. A multi-path scenario is considered and the probability density function of the RSS in different channel conditions is evaluated. Next, through a numerical evaluation, the SKG rates are derived in the form of mutual information (MI) estimates, using a 3GPP standard channel model. The simulations are performed for different values of bandwidth and delay spread. We demonstrate that while both parameters have similar impact on how multi-path components are resolved, their effect on the MI is opposite.

IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference•Jun 1, 2022•10 citations

On secret-key generation using wideband channels in mobile networks

Yuan Shen, Moe Z. Win

Wireless networks are subject to security vulnerability due to the broadcasting nature of radio transmission. Information-theoretic approaches for secure communication propose to generate secret keys from a common source, such as reciprocal channels, available to the transmitter and receiver. However, such approaches assume the probability distribution of the sources, which may not be available in many realistic scenarios. In this paper, we establish an information-theoretic framework for secret-key generation (SKG) using noisy observations of unknown deterministic parameters (UDPs). Based on an axiomatic definition of UDPs, we derive a new metric called intrinsic information between the UDP and its observation, characterizing the rate of the secret key that can be generated from the observation. This metric is then applied to quantify the use of wideband channels in mobile networks for SKG. Our results provide a non-Bayesian perspective for SKG as well as its practical implications.

International Conference on Communications•Jun 1, 2015•2 citations

Joint secure communication and sensing in 6G networks

Miroslav Mitev, Amitha Mayya, Arsenia Chorti

Joint communication and sensing is expected to be one of the features introduced by the sixth-generation (6G) wireless systems. This will enable a huge variety of new applications, hence, it is important to find suitable approaches to secure the exchanged information. Conventional security mechanisms may not be able to meet the stringent delay, power, and complexity requirements which opens the challenge of finding new lightweight security solutions. A promising approach coming from the physical layer is the secret key generation (SKG) from channel fading. While SKG has been investigated for several decades, practical implementations of its full protocol are still scarce. The aim of this chapter is to evaluate the SKG rates in real-life setups under a set of different scenarios. We consider a typical radar waveform and present a full implementation of the SKG protocol. Each step is evaluated to demonstrate that generating keys from the physical layer can be a viable solution for future networks. However, we show that there is not a single solution that can be generalized for all cases, instead, parameters should be chosen according to the context.

arXiv:2310.14624•Oct 23, 2023•1 citation

Beyond Traditional Security: A Review on Information-Theoretic Secret Key Generation at Wireless Physical Layer

David Samuel Bhatti, Haeung Choi, Heung-No Lee

In the rapidly evolving landscape of wireless communication, securing transmitted information remains a critical challenge. This study provides a comprehensive review of secret key generation (SKG) techniques designed to secure physical layer wireless communication channels. We focus on key generation methods that exploit physical layer characteristics such as channel state information, received signal strength, and bit error rate. The computational complexity of these techniques is also examined, emphasizing the trade-offs between security and efficiency for real-world implementations. The review identifies open challenges such as developing low-cost, resource-efficient systems, managing artificial noise, and addressing the impact of mobility and multiuser massive MIMO systems on SKG rates. Our findings aim to guide the development of more efficient, scalable SKG methods for next-generation wireless networks. Additionally, we propose a method for securely generating identical secret keys between nodes using Cuckoo filters and a Map-Reduce model for frame hashing, ensuring long-term security in IoT environments.

•Oct 8, 2024•4 citations

A Novel Secret Key Generation Algorithm for Secure Wireless Communications

Hafsa Jahangeer, Syed Junaid Nawaz, Shurjeel Wyne +1 more

The rapid technological advancements in wireless networks have resulted in tremendous increase in the number of connected user and machine-type wireless devices. Physical Layer Security (PLS) has a strong potential for providing security to wireless links in massively connected future wireless networks. The key-based PLS methods aim at generating secret key bits for data encryption/decryption at the legitimate communication nodes by exploiting the randomness inherent in wireless channels. This work proposes a novel secret key-bits extraction algorithm named Moving-Window Wrapped-Envelope Secret Key Generation (MWWE-SKG). The proposed algorithm uses first-order statistics from a sliding temporal window of channel samples to select the channel quantization interval for each window from circularly wrapped channel envelope samples. The differences in hardware noise conditions at the legitimate nodes lead to differences in the measurement of ideally reciprocal channels, which further leads to a mismatch in the generated secret key bits, whereas the channel statistics of the same links are more likely to remain unchanged for a reasonably large length of time window over the channel samples. An extensive analysis on the performance of the proposed algorithm is conducted, where the proposed algorithm is observed to provide a promising trade-off between the critical SKG performance metrics namely the Key Generation Rate (KGR), Bit Mismatch Probability (BMP), and the Key Randomness Property (KRP). Furthermore, a comparative performance analysis of the proposed algorithm with other notable techniques is also conducted to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed algorithm.

•Mar 8, 2024•0 citations
In this work we investigate the problem of secret key generation (SKG) between two communicating wireless devices, according to the physical-layer security paradigm. We propose a general framework for any communication channel or waveform. In details, we study a filterbank-based method, which allows the generation of secret security keys from a wideband radio channel, independently from the baseband modem implementation. We believe that channel awareness is of utmost importance to understand the applicability of SKG methods, i.e., knowing their secret bit-rate under different channel scenarios. For that purpose, we investigate the SKG performance by means of Monte Carlo simulations that collect radio channel statistics and obtain the SKG performance through mutual information numerical estimation.
The sixth generation of wireless networks (6G) is expected to support the deployment of Internet of things (IoT) devices in massive scales. Finding lightweight and decentralized secret-key distribution primitives is therefore a challenge. Secret-key generation (SKG) from wireless channel coefficients is seen as a possible solution. It allows the extraction of secret keys using the channel randomness observed at the physical layer, without a centralized key distribution server. In this work an SKG approach suitable for wideband IoT devices is proposed. We investigate a filterbank-based SKG method, in which secret bits are generated through power measurements over different frequencies. To minimize dependencies and correlation among frequencies the quantile and the Karhunen-Loeve transforms are used. Finally, we perform a numerical evaluation of the achievable SKG rates, in the form of mutual-information (MI) estimates, using 3GPP channel models. Our numerical evaluation shows that the achievable SKG rate depends on the channel statistics, and, hence, to optimally harvest the information, devices need to be channel-aware.
The emergence of Internet of things (IoT) applications brings the challenge of finding lightweight schemes for secret key distribution. A promising solution coming from the physical layer is the so called secret key generation (SKG) from shared randomness. SKG allows two communicating parties to extract the shared randomness already present in wireless channels. This work investigates the achievable SKG rates using received signal strength (RSS) as a key generation parameter. A multi-path scenario is considered and the probability density function of the RSS in different channel conditions is evaluated. Next, through a numerical evaluation, the SKG rates are derived in the form of mutual information (MI) estimates, using a 3GPP standard channel model. The simulations are performed for different values of bandwidth and delay spread. We demonstrate that while both parameters have similar impact on how multi-path components are resolved, their effect on the MI is opposite.
Wireless networks are subject to security vulnerability due to the broadcasting nature of radio transmission. Information-theoretic approaches for secure communication propose to generate secret keys from a common source, such as reciprocal channels, available to the transmitter and receiver. However, such approaches assume the probability distribution of the sources, which may not be available in many realistic scenarios. In this paper, we establish an information-theoretic framework for secret-key generation (SKG) using noisy observations of unknown deterministic parameters (UDPs). Based on an axiomatic definition of UDPs, we derive a new metric called intrinsic information between the UDP and its observation, characterizing the rate of the secret key that can be generated from the observation. This metric is then applied to quantify the use of wideband channels in mobile networks for SKG. Our results provide a non-Bayesian perspective for SKG as well as its practical implications.
Joint communication and sensing is expected to be one of the features introduced by the sixth-generation (6G) wireless systems. This will enable a huge variety of new applications, hence, it is important to find suitable approaches to secure the exchanged information. Conventional security mechanisms may not be able to meet the stringent delay, power, and complexity requirements which opens the challenge of finding new lightweight security solutions. A promising approach coming from the physical layer is the secret key generation (SKG) from channel fading. While SKG has been investigated for several decades, practical implementations of its full protocol are still scarce. The aim of this chapter is to evaluate the SKG rates in real-life setups under a set of different scenarios. We consider a typical radar waveform and present a full implementation of the SKG protocol. Each step is evaluated to demonstrate that generating keys from the physical layer can be a viable solution for future networks. However, we show that there is not a single solution that can be generalized for all cases, instead, parameters should be chosen according to the context.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of wireless communication, securing transmitted information remains a critical challenge. This study provides a comprehensive review of secret key generation (SKG) techniques designed to secure physical layer wireless communication channels. We focus on key generation methods that exploit physical layer characteristics such as channel state information, received signal strength, and bit error rate. The computational complexity of these techniques is also examined, emphasizing the trade-offs between security and efficiency for real-world implementations. The review identifies open challenges such as developing low-cost, resource-efficient systems, managing artificial noise, and addressing the impact of mobility and multiuser massive MIMO systems on SKG rates. Our findings aim to guide the development of more efficient, scalable SKG methods for next-generation wireless networks. Additionally, we propose a method for securely generating identical secret keys between nodes using Cuckoo filters and a Map-Reduce model for frame hashing, ensuring long-term security in IoT environments.
The rapid technological advancements in wireless networks have resulted in tremendous increase in the number of connected user and machine-type wireless devices. Physical Layer Security (PLS) has a strong potential for providing security to wireless links in massively connected future wireless networks. The key-based PLS methods aim at generating secret key bits for data encryption/decryption at the legitimate communication nodes by exploiting the randomness inherent in wireless channels. This work proposes a novel secret key-bits extraction algorithm named Moving-Window Wrapped-Envelope Secret Key Generation (MWWE-SKG). The proposed algorithm uses first-order statistics from a sliding temporal window of channel samples to select the channel quantization interval for each window from circularly wrapped channel envelope samples. The differences in hardware noise conditions at the legitimate nodes lead to differences in the measurement of ideally reciprocal channels, which further leads to a mismatch in the generated secret key bits, whereas the channel statistics of the same links are more likely to remain unchanged for a reasonably large length of time window over the channel samples. An extensive analysis on the performance of the proposed algorithm is conducted, where the proposed algorithm is observed to provide a promising trade-off between the critical SKG performance metrics namely the Key Generation Rate (KGR), Bit Mismatch Probability (BMP), and the Key Randomness Property (KRP). Furthermore, a comparative performance analysis of the proposed algorithm with other notable techniques is also conducted to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed algorithm.