Ashkan Kalantari

Directional Modulation Via Symbol-Level Precoding: A Way to Enhance Security

Wireless communication provides a wide coverage at the cost of exposing information to unintended users. As an information-theoretic paradigm, secrecy rate derives bounds for secure transmission when the channel to the eavesdropper is known. However, such bounds are shown to be restrictive in practice and may require exploitation of specialized coding schemes. In this paper, we employ the concept of directional modulation and follow a signal processing approach to enhance the security of multiuser multi-input multioutput (MIMO) communication systems when a multiantenna eavesdropper is present. Security enhancement is accomplished by increasing the symbol error rate at the eavesdropper. Unlike the information-theoretic secrecy rate paradigm, we assume that the legitimate transmitter is not aware of its channel to the eavesdropper, which is a more realistic assumption. We examine the applicability of MIMO receiving algorithms at the eavesdropper. Using the channel knowledge and the intended symbols for the users, we design security enhancing symbol-level precoders for different transmitter and eavesdropper antenna configurations. We transform each design problem to a linearly constrained quadratic program and propose two solutions, namely the iterative algorithm and one based on nonnegative least squares, at each scenario for a computationally efficient modulation. Simulation results verify the analysis and show that the designed precoders outperform the benchmark scheme in terms of both power efficiency and security enhancement.

Joint Power Control in Wiretap Interference Channels

Interference in wireless networks degrades the signal quality at the terminals. However, it can potentially enhance the secrecy rate. This paper investigates the secrecy rate in a two-user interference network where one of the users, namely user 1, needs to establish a confidential connection. User 1 wants to prevent an unintended user of the network from decoding its transmission. User 1 has to transmit such that its secrecy rate is maximized while the quality of service at the destination of the other user, user 2, is satisfied, and both users power limits are taken into account. We consider two scenarios: 1) user 2 changes its power in favor of user 1, an altruistic scenario, and 2) user 2 is selfish and only aims to maintain the minimum quality of service at its destination, an egoistic scenario. It is shown that there is a threshold for user 2s transmission power that only below or above which, depending on the channel qualities, user 1 can achieve a positive secrecy rate. Closed-form solutions are obtained to perform joint optimal power control. Further, a new metric called secrecy energy efficiency is introduced. We show that in general, the secrecy energy efficiency of user 1 in an interference channel scenario is higher than that of an interference-free channel.

Secrecy Analysis on Network Coding in Bidirectional Multibeam Satellite Communications

Network coding is an efficient means to improve the spectrum efficiency of satellite communications. However, its resilience to eavesdropping attacks is not well understood. This paper studies the confidentiality issue in a bidirectional satellite network consisting of two mobile users who want to exchange message via a multibeam satellite using the XOR network coding protocol. We aim to maximize the sum secrecy rate by designing the optimal beamforming vector along with optimizing the return and forward link time allocation. The problem is nonconvex, and we find its optimal solution using semidefinite programming together with a 1-D search. For comparison, we also solve the sum secrecy rate maximization problem for a conventional reference scheme without using network coding. Simulation results using realistic system parameters demonstrate that the bidirectional scheme using network coding provides considerably higher secrecy rate compared with that of the conventional scheme.

Secure M-PSK communication via directional modulation

In this work, a directional modulation-based technique is devised to enhance the security of a multi-antenna wireless communication system employing M-PSK modulation to convey information. The directional modulation method operates by steering the array beam in such a way that the phase of the received signal at the receiver matches that of the intended M-PSK symbol. Due to the difference between the channels of the legitimate receiver and the eavesdropper, the signals received by the eavesdropper generally encompass a phase component different than the actual symbols. As a result, the transceiver which employs directional modulation can impose a high symbol error rate on the eavesdropper without requiring to know the eavesdroppers channel. The optimal directional modulation beamformer is designed to minimize the consumed power subject to satisfying a specific resulting phase and minimal signal amplitude at each antenna of the legitimate receiver. The simulation results show that the directional modulation results in a much higher symbol error rate at the eavesdropper compared to the conventional benchmark scheme, i.e., zero-forcing precoding at the transmitter.

Secrecy energy efficiency optimization for MISO and SISO communication networks

Energy-efficiency, high data rates and secure communications are essential requirements of the future wireless networks. In this paper, optimizing the secrecy energy efficiency is considered. The optimal beamformer is designed for a MISO system with and without considering the minimum required secrecy rate. Further, the optimal power control in a SISO system is carried out using an efficient iterative method, and this is followed by analyzing the trade-off between the secrecy energy efficiency and the secrecy rate for both MISO and SISO systems.

Power Allocation for Energy-Constrained Cognitive Radios in the Presence of an Eavesdropper

Reliable and agile spectrum sensing as well as secure communication are key requirements of a cognitive radio system. In this paper, secrecy throughput of a cognitive radio is maximized in order to determine the sensing threshold, the sensing time, and the transmission power. Constraints of the problem are defined as a lower-bound on the detection probability, an upper-bound on the average energy consumption per time-frame, and the maximum transmission power of the cognitive radio. We show that the problem can be solved by an on-off strategy where the cognitive radio only performs sensing and transmits data if the cognitive channel gain is greater than the average eavesdropper channel gain. The problem is then solved by a line-search over sensing time. Eventually, the secrecy throughput of the cognitive radio is evaluated employing the IEEE 802.15.4/Zig-Bee standard.

Frequency of arrival-based interference localization using a single satellite

Intentional and unintentional interferences are an increasing threat for the satellite communications industry. In this paper, we aim to localize an interference with unknown location using frequency of arrival (FoA) technique by only relying on the measurements obtained through a single satellite. In each time instance, the satellite samples the interference and forwards it to the gateway to estimate its frequency. Since the satellite moves, each estimated frequency includes a Doppler shift, which is related to the location of the unknown interferer. The satellites position, velocity, oscillator frequency, and the interference frequency are used at the gateway to build a location-related equation between the estimated frequency and the location of the unknown interference. Simultaneously with the interference signal, the satellite samples a reference signal to calibrate the estimated frequency and compensate for the mismatches between the available and real values of the satellites position, velocity, and oscillator frequency. Multiple location- related equations obtained based on the FoA measurements, (at least two), along with the equation of the earth surface are used to localize the unknown interference. Simulations show that increasing the number of these equations, and the satellite velocity can improve the localization accuracy by 80% and 95%, respectively.

Feasibility of positive secrecy rate in wiretap interference channels

Interference usually is an adverse phenomenon in wireless networks. However, the interference can potentially be used to boost the secrecy rate in wireless interference channels. This work studies the secrecy rate in a two-user interference network where unintended user may overhear one of the users, namely user 1. User 1 tunes its transmission power in order to maximize its secrecy rate as well as to maintain the quality of service at the other users destination, user 2, while both users power limits are considered. It is demonstrated that achieving a positive secrecy rate for user 1 only depends on the channel conditions and user 2s transmission power. Consequently, depending on the channel conditions, the exact threshold for user 2s transmission power which leads to a positive secrecy rate for user 1 is derived.

MIMO directional modulation M-QAM precoding for transceivers performance enhancement

The increasing mobile data traffic requires network coverage expansion and rate enhancement. However, this demands more power and results in environmental pollution. As a solution, directional modulation can be used to provide efficient and interference-free communications. In this work, we geometrically model the extended detection regions of M-QAM modulation for M = 4, 8, 16, 32 and use these modeled regions to design energy efficient symbol-level precoders for an interference-free MIMO directional modulation transceiver. We formulate and transform the precoder design problems into linearly constrained quadratic programming optimization problems. The simulation results show that compared with the benchmark schemes, directional modulation results in lower power consumption and symbol error rate using the less stringent extended detection regions and interference-free capability, respectively.

Spatial peak power minimization for relaxed phase M-PSK MIMO directional modulation transmitter

The burst in media content and access to smart phones has created an increasing demand for data. At the same time, powering up mobile base stations contributes notably to CO2 footprint. To address these issues, we need to design energy efficient communication systems with higher data rates while considering practical limitations. As a solution, we design an optimal M-PSK directional modulation precoder with spatial peak power minimization where the communicated symbol on each receiving antenna is placed in the optimal location of a predefined region. Such an approach allows less stringent design and results in further energy efficiency. In this work, we characterize the relaxed region, formulate the optimal symbollevel precoder design problem, and transform it into a standard form. The simulation results show that the relaxed design reduces the consumed power while the symbol error rate increment at the receiver due to the relaxed phase design is negligible.