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IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security

Optimal Subcarrier Allocation Scheme for Physical-Layer Key Generation in an OFDMA Network

Qingjiang Xiao, Guyue Li, Zilong Liu, Aiqun Hu

Published Jan 1, 2025• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

This paper studies enhanced physical-layer key generation (PKG) for multiuser orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) networks. In practical OFDMA systems, our key observation is that there are frequency correlations between different subcarriers which potentially lead to compromised randomness of the generated keys as well as reduced sum secret key rate. Motivated by this, we show that subcarrier allocation plays a key role in enhancing the PKG performance in OFMDA networks. We prove that when a single user terminal selects a finite number of subcarriers for key generation, adopting uniformly spaced subcarriers is the optimal solution as it leads to higher secret key rates and better randomness. Moreover, we derive a closed-form expression for the sum secret key rate and introduce a low-complexity near-optimal algorithm that can achieve an appropriate subcarrier allocation policy in a timely manner. Simulation results show that our proposed near-optimal algorithm exhibits significant advantages in maximizing the sum secret key rate and improving key randomness compared with existing subcarrier allocation algorithms.

DOI
10.1109/tifs.2025.3566242

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This paper studies enhanced physical-layer key generation (PKG) for multiuser orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) networks. In practical OFDMA systems, our key observation is that there are frequency correlations between different subcarriers which potentially lead to compromised randomness of the generated keys as well as reduced sum secret key rate. Motivated by this, we show that subcarrier allocation plays a key role in enhancing the PKG performance in OFMDA networks. We prove that when a single user terminal selects a finite number of subcarriers for key generation, adopting uniformly spaced subcarriers is the optimal solution as it leads to higher secret key rates and better randomness. Moreover, we derive a closed-form expression for the sum secret key rate and introduce a low-complexity near-optimal algorithm that can achieve an appropriate subcarrier allocation policy in a timely manner. Simulation results show that our proposed near-optimal algorithm exhibits significant advantages in maximizing the sum secret key rate and improving key randomness compared with existing subcarrier allocation algorithms.
Secrecy on the physical layer is receiving increased research interest due to its theoretical and practical importance. In this letter, a subcarrier allocation scheme is proposed for physical-layer security in cooperative orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) networks that use the Amplify-and-Forward (AF) strategy. We consider the subcarrier pairing and assignment to maximize overall system rates subject to a secrecy level requirement. Monte Carlo simulations are carried out to validate our analysis.
Key generation from the randomness of wireless channels is a promising technique to establish a secret cryptographic key securely between legitimate users. This paper proposes a new approach to extract keys efficiently from the channel responses of individual orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers. The efficiency is achieved by: 1) fully exploiting randomness from time and frequency domains and 2) improving the cross-correlation of the channel measurements. Through the theoretical modeling of the time and frequency autocorrelation relationship of the OFDM subcarrier's channel responses, we can obtain the optimal probing rate and use multiple uncorrelated subcarriers as random sources. We also study the effects of non-simultaneous measurements and noise on the cross-correlation of the channel measurements. We find that the cross-correlation is mainly impacted by noise effects in a slow fading channel and use a low-pass filter to reduce the key disagreement rate and extend the system's working signal-to-noise ratio range. The system is evaluated in terms of randomness, key generation rate, and key disagreement rate, verifying that it is feasible to extract randomness from both time and frequency domains of the OFDM subcarrier's channel responses.
As a new way to enhance wireless communication security, secret key generation based on physical layer channel characteristics has emerged. In this paper, we propose a novel secret key generation algorithm based on wireless channel characteristics for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication systems. The mean quantization algorithm is applied to quantize the real part and imaginary part of OFDM subcarriers, respectively, which can significantly increase the length of the generated secret key in the OFDM system. To reduce the consistency between the secret keys generated by the eavesdropper and the legitimate communication nodes, a processing method by taking the subcarrier phase as initialization of a scrambling code and scrambling the quantized result is proposed. The simulation and test results show that compared with the existing research, the proposed algorithm can improve the key generation rate (KGR), reduce the key mismatch rate (KMR) and complexity, maintain high randomness, and disturb the eavesdroppers.
In this paper, we consider the problem of resource allocation scheme for physical layer security in cooperative orthogonal frequency division multiple (OFDM) networks using amplify-and-forward (AF) strategy. To maximize the secrecy rate, the joint optimization of power allocation, subcarrier allocation and subcarrier pairing is proposed. The optimization problem can be solved efficiently by dual method. To reduce the complexity, two suboptimal algorithms are proposed. Monte Carlo simulations are carried out to validate our analysis.
The security issue on the physical layer is of significant challenge yet of paramount importance for 5G communications. In some previous works, transmit power allocation has already been studied for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) secure communication with Gaussian channel inputs for both a single user and multiple users. Faced with peak transmission power constraints, we adopt discrete channel inputs (e.g., equiprobable Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) with symmetry) in a practical communication system, instead of Gaussian channel inputs. Finite-alphabet inputs impose a more significant challenge as compared with conventional Gaussian random inputs for the multiuser wiretap OFDM systems. This paper considers the joint resource allocation in frequency-domain artificial noise (AN) assisted multiuser wiretap OFDM channels with discrete channel inputs. This security problem is formulated as nonconvex sum secrecy rate optimization by jointly optimizing the subcarrier allocation, information-bearing power, and AN-bearing power. To this end, with a suboptimal subcarrier allocation scheme, we propose an efficient iterative algorithm to allocate the power between the information and the AN via the Lagrange duality method. Finally, we carry out some numerical simulations to demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm.
This paper presents a key generation system derived from the channel response of individual subcarrier in orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. Practical aspects of the security were investigated by implementing our key generation scheme on a wireless open-access research platform (WARP), which enables us to obtain channel estimation of individual OFDM subcarriers, a feature not currently available in most commercial wireless interface cards. Channel response of individual OFDM subcarrier is usually a wide sense stationary random process, which allows us to find the optimal probing period and maximize the key generation rate. The implementation requires cross layer design as it involves interaction between physical and MAC layer. We have experimentally verified the feasibility and principles of key generation, and also evaluated the performance of our system in terms of randomness, key generation rate and key disagreement rate, which proves that OFDM subcarrier's channel responses are valid for key generation.