In Non-orthogonal multiple access, a user with a weaker channel gain is assigned more power than a user with a stronger channel. This type of power allocation allows the strong user (SU) to apply the successive interference cancellation (SIC) method that first detects the symbols of the weak user (WU) before detecting its data. The SIC method makes the WU data vulnerable to eavesdropping at the SU and so increases the detection complexity. This paper studies the physical layer security of the data against eavesdropping. The proposed scheme uses directional modulation that distorts the symbols transmitted in an undesired direction therefore the external eavesdroppers receive different symbols. It becomes complicated for an external eavesdropper to track and detect the signal of legitimate users. This scheme eliminates the WU data on the location of the SU so the strong user does not need the SIC. We analyze the impacts of various factors on security, such as the number of antennas and the secrecy rate.
In Non-orthogonal multiple access, a user with a weaker channel gain is assigned more power than a user with a stronger channel. This type of power allocation allows the strong user (SU) to apply the successive interference cancellation (SIC) method that first detects the symbols of the weak user (WU) before detecting its data. The SIC method makes the WU data vulnerable to eavesdropping at the SU and so increases the detection complexity. This paper studies the physical layer security of the data against eavesdropping. The proposed scheme uses directional modulation that distorts the symbols transmitted in an undesired direction therefore the external eavesdroppers receive different symbols. It becomes complicated for an external eavesdropper to track and detect the signal of legitimate users. This scheme eliminates the WU data on the location of the SU so the strong user does not need the SIC. We analyze the impacts of various factors on security, such as the number of antennas and the secrecy rate.
This article clarifies pivotal security issues in the context of non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technology and presents potential methodologies to address them at the physical layer. Specifically, we first clarify the channel conditions for an external eavesdropper to use successive interference cancellation (SIC) for cancelling interference, which has recently been considered in the literature of physical layer security for NOMA. We then explicitly demonstrate the advantages and drawbacks of using NOMA to achieve wireless communication security; that is, NOMA improves the security of a strong user, but reduces the security of a weak user. Finally, we discuss a strategy to protect the confidentiality of a weak user's information from a strong user, while still allowing the latter to seek SIC for harnessing the benefits of NOMA. Research challenges and future works along the aforementioned three different aspects of security issues in NOMA are presented in this article.
The close relationship between multiple access technologies and efficient spectrum utilization makes power- domain non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) an attractive solution that enables the support of high data rates, user fairness and low-latency communications in 5G and next generation networks. However, user pairing and successive interference cancelation applied in NOMA facilitates eavesdropping on the far user’s signal by the near user establishing security as a main issue in NOMA systems. Due to their numerous advantages, the means of physical layer security (PLS) are extremely suitable to combat internal NOMA eavesdropping. Up to the present only a few studies exist which examine different PLS approaches against eavesdropping on the far user by the near user. Among them are a joint beamforming and power allocation algorithm, an angle conversion method that alters the original signal constellation before transmission, and a directional modulation approach. In this paper, the available PLS methods against eavesdropping on the far user by the near user are investigated and the main advantages and drawbacks of these methods are compared.
This paper investigates the impact of physical layer secrecy on the performance of a unified non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) framework, where both external and internal eavesdropping scenarios are examined. The spatial locations of legitimate users (LUs) and eavesdroppers are modeled by invoking stochastic geometry. To characterize the security performance, new exact and asymptotic expressions of secrecy outage probability (SOP) are derived for both code-domain NOMA (CD-NOMA) and power-domain NOMA (PD-NOMA), in which imperfect successive interference cancellation (ipSIC) and perfect SIC (pSIC) are taken into account. For the external eavesdropping scenario, the secrecy diversity orders by a pair of LUs (the n-th user and m-th user) for CD/PD-NOMA are obtained. Analytical results make known that the diversity orders of the n-th user with ipSIC/pSIC for CD-NOMA and PD-NOMA are equal to zero/K and zero/one, respectively. The diversity orders of the m-th user are equal to K/one for CD/PD-NOMA. For the internal eavesdropping scenario, we examine the analysis of secrecy diversity order and observe that the m-th user to wiretap the n-th user with ipSIC/pSIC for CD-NOMA and PDNOMA provide the diversity orders of zero/K and zero/one, respectively, which is consistent with external eavesdropping scenario. Numerical results are present to confirm the accuracy of the analytical results developed and show that: i) The secrecy outage behavior of the n-th user is superior to that of the m-th user; ii) By increasing the number of subcarriers, CD-NOMA is capable of achieving a larger secrecy diversity gain compared to PD-NOMA.PD-NOMA.
With non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) in a passive eavesdropping scenario, we tackle the maximization of the secrecy rate for the strong user subject to a maximum allowable secrecy outage probability while guaranteeing a constraint on the transmission rate to the weak user. For the first time, the dependence between the eavesdropper's ability to conduct successive interference cancellation and her channel quality is considered. We determine the exact optimal power allocation and redundancy rate, based on which the cost of security in terms of the reduction in the strong user's secrecy rate is examined, and the benefits of NOMA for secure transmissions are revealed.
In this paper, secure communication in non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) downlink system is considered wherein two NOMA users with channel gain difference are paired in each transmission slot. The user with poor channel condition (weak user) is entrusted, while the user with good channel condition (strong user) is a potential eavesdropper. The weak user data can be intercepted by the strong user since the strong user needs to decode the weak user’s message for successive interference cancellation operation in NOMA. To impair strong user’s eavesdropping capability, weak user’s information-bearing signal is merged with an artificial signal (AS). Thus, the eavesdropping process requires extra decoding step at higher power level. The secrecy outage probability of the weak user is derived and provided in closed-form expression. The weak user faces a choice between transmitting the information-bearing signal with the total power and the deploying the AS technique, whereas the strong user can choose whether to eavesdrop the weak user’s message or not. To investigate users’ power-secrecy tradeoffs, their interactions are modeled as a non-cooperative zero-sum game. The existence of Nash equilibria (NEs) of the proposed game is first analyzed, and pure and mixed-strategy NE profiles are provided. In addition, numerical simulations are conducted to validate the analytical results and to prove that AS-Aided proposed scheme enhances the secrecy performance of NOMA systems while maintaining the NOMA superiority over OMA systems.
Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is an important multiple access mode in 5G. Nevertheless, eavesdropping may appear between the users in NOMA. In this case, physical layer security schemes can be introduced to combat eavesdropping. Different from the existing schemes, eavesdropping suppression in NOMA should be based on several rules: (i) successive interference cancellation (SIC) should be normally operated; (ii) each user can not attain others' privacy information; (iii) each adopted scheme had better not to depend on the spatial disparity between channels (since the channels may have the strong spatial similarity). Therefore, we propose a novel scheme to adapt to these rules. In our scheme, the original signals of users are separately transformed into the transmitted signals by a well-designed angle conversion method, and the principles of these variations for diverse users are different. Furthermore, an auxiliary mechanism with full-duplex technology is devised to guarantee the users to safely learn the principles, respectively. Through this scheme, each user can deduce other users' transmitted signals for SIC, while the original signals are difficult to be determined from transmitted signals. Hence, our scheme can effectively improve security.