Exploiting Full-duplex Receivers for Achieving Secret Communications in Multiuser MISO Networks

We consider a broadcast channel, in which a multi-antenna transmitter (Alice) sends $K$ confidential information signals to $K$ legitimate users (Bobs) in the presence of $L$ eavesdroppers (Eves). Alice uses MIMO precoding to generate the information signals along with her own (Tx-based) friendly jamming. Interference at each Bob is removed by MIMO zero-forcing. This, however, leaves a "vulnerability region" around each Bob, which can be exploited by a nearby Eve. We address this problem by augmenting Tx-based friendly jamming (TxFJ) with Rx-based friendly jamming (RxFJ), generated by each Bob. Specifically, each Bob uses self-interference suppression (SIS) to transmit a friendly jamming signal while simultaneously receiving an information signal over the same channel. We minimize the powers allocated to the information, TxFJ, and RxFJ signals under given guarantees on the individual secrecy rate for each Bob. The problem is solved for the cases when the eavesdropper's channel state information is known/unknown. Simulations show the effectiveness of the proposed solution. Furthermore, we discuss how to schedule transmissions when the rate requirements need to be satisfied on average rather than instantaneously. Under special cases, a scheduling algorithm that serves only the strongest receivers is shown to outperform the one that schedules all receivers.Comment: IEEE Transactions on Communication

Algorithms for Globally-Optimal Secure Signaling over Gaussian MIMO Wiretap Channels Under Interference Constraints

Multi-user Gaussian MIMO wiretap channel is considered under interference power constraints (IPC), in addition to the total transmit power constraint (TPC). Algorithms for \textit{global} maximization of its secrecy rate are proposed. Their convergence to the secrecy capacity is rigorously proved and a number of properties are established analytically. Unlike known algorithms, the proposed ones are not limited to the MISO case and are proved to converge to a \textit{global} rather than local optimum in the general MIMO case, even when the channel is not degraded. In practice, the convergence is fast as only a small to moderate number of Newton steps is required to achieve a high precision level. The interplay of TPC and IPC is shown to result in an unusual property when an optimal point of the max-min problem does not provide an optimal transmit covariance matrix in some (singular) cases. To address this issue, an algorithm is developed to compute an optimal transmit covariance matrix in those singular cases. It is shown that this algorithm also solves the dual (nonconvex) problems of \textit{globally} minimizing the total transmit power subject to the secrecy and interference constraints; it provides the minimum transmit power and respective signaling strategy needed to achieve the secrecy capacity, hence allowing power savings.Comment: accepted for publicatio

On the Secrecy Capacity of MIMO Wiretap Channels: Convex Reformulation and Efficient Numerical Methods

This paper presents novel numerical approaches to finding the secrecy capacity of the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wiretap channel subject to multiple linear transmit covariance constraints, including sum power constraint, per antenna power constraints and interference power constraint. An analytical solution to this problem is not known and existing numerical solutions suffer from slow convergence rate and/or high per-iteration complexity. Deriving computationally efficient solutions to the secrecy capacity problem is challenging since the secrecy rate is expressed as a difference of convex functions (DC) of the transmit covariance matrix, for which its convexity is only known for some special cases. In this paper we propose two low-complexity methods to compute the secrecy capacity along with a convex reformulation for degraded channels. In the first method we capitalize on the accelerated DC algorithm which requires solving a sequence of convex subproblems, for which we propose an efficient iterative algorithm where each iteration admits a closed-form solution. In the second method, we rely on the concave-convex equivalent reformulation of the secrecy capacity problem which allows us to derive the so-called partial best response algorithm to obtain an optimal solution. Notably, each iteration of the second method can also be done in closed form. The simulation results demonstrate a faster convergence rate of our methods compared to other known solutions. We carry out extensive numerical experiments to evaluate the impact of various parameters on the achieved secrecy capacity

Principles of Physical Layer Security in Multiuser Wireless Networks: A Survey

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the domain of physical layer security in multiuser wireless networks. The essential premise of physical-layer security is to enable the exchange of confidential messages over a wireless medium in the presence of unauthorized eavesdroppers without relying on higher-layer encryption. This can be achieved primarily in two ways: without the need for a secret key by intelligently designing transmit coding strategies, or by exploiting the wireless communication medium to develop secret keys over public channels. The survey begins with an overview of the foundations dating back to the pioneering work of Shannon and Wyner on information-theoretic security. We then describe the evolution of secure transmission strategies from point-to-point channels to multiple-antenna systems, followed by generalizations to multiuser broadcast, multiple-access, interference, and relay networks. Secret-key generation and establishment protocols based on physical layer mechanisms are subsequently covered. Approaches for secrecy based on channel coding design are then examined, along with a description of inter-disciplinary approaches based on game theory and stochastic geometry. The associated problem of physical-layer message authentication is also introduced briefly. The survey concludes with observations on potential research directions in this area.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, 303 refs. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1303.1609 by other authors. IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials, 201