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International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering

Robust 6G Networks: Augmenting Physical Layer Security via Adaptive Visible Light Communication Methods

B. Hariprasad, K.P. Sridhar

Published Jun 30, 2025• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Improved security against cyber-attacks, eavesdropping, and interference threats is necessary to establish 6G networks. With its inherent spatial confinement and high-rate data transmission, Visible Light Communication (VLC) can substitute conventional radio frequency (RF)-based security techniques challenged by spectrum congestion and jamming attacks. Constraints such as eavesdropping threats, low flexibility to mobility constraints, and time-varying environmental interference are issues that face VLC security solutions. Adaptive Quantum-Secured Visible Light Communication (AQ-SVLC) has been proposed to mitigate these issues. The paradigm combines Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), artificial intelligence-based adaptive beamforming, real-time channel state monitoring, and blockchain-based authentication with the aim of enhancing trustworthiness, flexibility, and confidentiality. The AQ-SVLC design guarantees real-time security adaptation by dynamically adjusting transmission parameters using Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) models. A hybrid optical-RF switching mechanism allows flawless connectivity even when the lighting changes. In 6G networks, the results show that AQ-SVLC provides a future-proof and scalable solution for strong physical layer security, far better than traditional VLC security techniques. For the purpose of guaranteeing that next-generation wireless communication ecosystems have security that is both adaptive and supported by AI, this research presents AQ-SVLC as a revolutionary method. While reducing bit error rate (10.8%) and latency (32.8 ms), the suggested AQ-SVLC method outperforms current security solutions in secrecy (97.3%), robustness (99.8%), and efficiency (98.3%).

DOI
10.14445/23488549/ijece-v12i6p102

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Improved security against cyber-attacks, eavesdropping, and interference threats is necessary to establish 6G networks. With its inherent spatial confinement and high-rate data transmission, Visible Light Communication (VLC) can substitute conventional radio frequency (RF)-based security techniques challenged by spectrum congestion and jamming attacks. Constraints such as eavesdropping threats, low flexibility to mobility constraints, and time-varying environmental interference are issues that face VLC security solutions. Adaptive Quantum-Secured Visible Light Communication (AQ-SVLC) has been proposed to mitigate these issues. The paradigm combines Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), artificial intelligence-based adaptive beamforming, real-time channel state monitoring, and blockchain-based authentication with the aim of enhancing trustworthiness, flexibility, and confidentiality. The AQ-SVLC design guarantees real-time security adaptation by dynamically adjusting transmission parameters using Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) models. A hybrid optical-RF switching mechanism allows flawless connectivity even when the lighting changes. In 6G networks, the results show that AQ-SVLC provides a future-proof and scalable solution for strong physical layer security, far better than traditional VLC security techniques. For the purpose of guaranteeing that next-generation wireless communication ecosystems have security that is both adaptive and supported by AI, this research presents AQ-SVLC as a revolutionary method. While reducing bit error rate (10.8%) and latency (32.8 ms), the suggested AQ-SVLC method outperforms current security solutions in secrecy (97.3%), robustness (99.8%), and efficiency (98.3%).
The advent of 6G wireless networks requires strong physical layer security (PLS) measures to guard off ever-changing cyber dangers and guarantee extremely dependable communication. In congested locations, traditional security systems based on radio frequency (RF) encounter challenges such as increased interference, eavesdropping concerns, and spectrum congestion. To tackle these issues, the present research investigates how Visible Light Communication (VLC) might be incorporated into 6G networks to supplement existing methods of improving PLS. Minimizing interference from outside sources during VLC signal transmission, guaranteeing safe key exchange, and finding the optimal location for system performance and security are all significant obstacles. This research presents a new framework Quantum-Enhanced Secure VLC (QES-VLC), which uses adaptive beamforming in conjunction with quantum key distribution (QKD) to improve data security and reduce the probability of interception. This method guarantees a smooth handoff between hybrid VLC-RF networks and restricts illegal access by taking advantage of VLC's inherent directional transmission features. Secure vehicle communications, industrial automation, and smart city infrastructure of the future are all areas where this research could be beneficial. This approach enables ultra-secure, high-speed wireless networks by incorporating VLC into the 6G ecosystem; this improves security without reducing efficiency. An improvement in resilience against eavesdropping is achieved at 99.5%, a decrease in bit error rate to 15.7%, and an increase in secrecy capacity to 98.2%. An extensive simulation analysis is performed using MATLAB to test the suggested approach. The results showed that secure key exchange efficiency improved to 97.3%, while system latency and power consumption are lowered to 28.3% and 18.9%, respectively. In addition, its effectiveness in secure data transfer has been experimentally validated in a real-time VLC experimentation.
Visible Light Communication (VLC) is a key technology for the sixth-generation (6G) wireless communication thanks to the possibility of using artificial environmental lights as a data transfer channel. Although VLC systems are more resistant against interference and less susceptible to security vulnerabilities like most wireless networks, VLC is even inherently susceptible to eavesdropping attacks. Moreover, since VLC is considered an enabling technology for 6G, specific mechanisms are needed to enforce data security. This paper considers improving the security of the next generation of wireless communications by using the Watermark Blind Physical Layer Security (WBPLSec) in VLCs. The main intuition is that RGB LEDs offer the possibility for Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) as a useful support for the Spread-Spectrum (SS) watermarking. In this paper, we propose an approach that aims at obtaining VLC Physical Layer Security (PLS) by combining watermarking with an RGB LED jamming. We provide a performance analysis of the proposed security architecture based on the secrecy capacity in terms of its existence and outage probability. We prove that WBPLSec can be used to significantly improve confidentiality in the next generation of wireless communications. The results offer the possibility of creating a secure region around the legitimate receiver by leveraging the jamming optical power.
Summary Visible light communication (VLC) is considered to be a great replacement or complement to existing radio frequency networks to provide the future fifth‐generation (5G) wireless technology with higher data rates for indoor connectivity, which alleviates the traffic demand. Therefore, many issues emerged regarding the security in 5G networks as human safety is at risk. This work presents a comprehensive study on the physical‐layer security (PLS) and solutions in 5G networks, specifically, the security of VLC technology as one of the core PLS solutions for 5G future wireless networks. Furthermore, VLC threats and PLS solutions are extensively investigated. Based on our study, we propose a new indoor VLC secure model to enhance the secrecy performance in VLC networks using a combination of multiple PLS techniques to achieve this aim as beamforming, secure communication zones, and friendly jamming. The simulation results with respect to the received optical power and signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) prove that the proposed indoor VLC model can improve the secrecy performance. As the user's SNR exceeded 100 dB and optical received power reached 15 mW, the malicious user's SNR barely reached 30 dB with a 4‐μW received power outside the target zone increasing his interference level. Finally, future research directions in VLC security are outlined to encourage future research.
The novel 6G-communication systems offer unparalleled opportunities in terms of reliability, speed and intelligence of the communication path. However, the characteristics of 6G network include dynamic nature and various type of nodes which make scenario more complex and open to various types of security threats such as advanced attacker and quantum attacker. As a result, this paper introduces an Adaptive Covert Communication Framework that combines quantum cryptography, and artificial intelligent-based physical layer security, and covert communication methods for secure and undetectable signal transmission. It uses the BB84 protocol for quantum key distribution and realizes the secure key rate up to 784 kbps over 10 km of quantum channel with 2 percent photon loss per kilometer. The AI models are used in real-time threat monitoring coupled with real-time reconfiguring in case of an adversarial situation, hence ensuring the detection probability of 5% during adversarial movements. Additional measures are added into the communication paradigm to ensure that the probability of interception is significantly reduced while offering a very high data rate of 1.2Gbps through frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) and signal obfuscation. The system also ensures energy efficiency with energy consumption of only 0.1 J/bit and thus has the possibility of being applied in different 6G applications. The analysis of different types of attacks demonstrates that the framework remains stable under different types of attacks such as jamming attack and quantum eavesdropping attack. The results show that the proposed framework can fit the current and future 6G security requirements to deliver efficient end-to-end protection in next-generation networks.
Due to the dramatic increase in high data rate services and in order to meet the demands of the fifth-generation (5G) networks, researchers from both academia and industry are exploring advanced transmission techniques, new network architectures and new frequency spectrum such as the visible light and the millimeter wave (mmWave) spectra. Visible light communication (VLC) particularly is an emerging technology that has been introduced as a promising solution for 5G and beyond, owing to the large unexploited spectrum, which translates to significantly high data rates. Although VLC systems are more immune against interference and less susceptible to security vulnerabilities since light does not penetrate through walls, security issues arise naturally in VLC channels due to their open and broadcasting nature, compared to fiber-optic systems. In addition, since VLC is considered to be an enabling technology for 5G, and security is one of the 5G fundamental requirements, security issues should be carefully addressed and resolved in the VLC context. On the other hand, due to the success of physical layer security (PLS) in improving the security of radio-frequency (RF) wireless networks, extending such PLS techniques to VLC systems has been of great interest. Only two survey papers on security in VLC have been published in the literature. However, a comparative and unified survey on PLS for VLC from information theoretic and signal processing point of views is still missing. This paper covers almost all aspects of PLS for VLC, including different channel models, input distributions, network configurations, precoding/signaling strategies, and secrecy capacity and information rates. Furthermore, we propose a number of timely and open research directions for PLS-VLC systems, including the application of measurement-based indoor and outdoor channel models, incorporating user mobility and device orientation into the channel model, and combining VLC and RF systems to realize the potential of such technologies.
Visible light communication (VLC) has emerged as a promising candidate to complement and enhance the performance of the existing radio frequency (RF) networks in indoor environments. Due to the broadcast nature of both RF and VLC channels, improving the transmission confidentiality is a requirement in practical wireless networks. Physical-layer security has emerged to provide a first line of defense against eavesdropping attacks. In this paper, we study the physical layer security problem of a hybrid RF/VLC system. First, we formulate the minimization problem of the consumed electrical power in the hybrid RF/VLC network while satisfying the user's required secrecy rate. Then, we propose a zero forcing beamforming strategy and a minimum power allocation algorithm. Simulations results show that the proposed power allocation and beamforming algorithms outperform the benchmark algorithms in terms of the average consumed electrical power in various indoor scenarios.